Is Justice Really Blind?–The Influence of Litigant Physical Attractiveness on Juridical Judgment1

The present investigation examined the influence of litigant physical attractiveness on the decisions of 91 undergraduates playing the role of nondeliberating jurors in an automobile negligence trial. Seeking to achieve a more realistic simulation of actual courtroom practice than that produced in prior studies, which have relied exclusively on short written synopses as their method of trial presentation, this experiment tested the hypothesis that physical attractiveness would have a significant impact on juridic judgments even though an audiovisual presentation of the trial permitted the introduction of a variety of other important stimuli typically present at a jury trial. This prediction received empirical support: Subjects exposed to an attractive plaintiff and an unattractive defendant more often found in favor of the plaintiff and awarded more money in damages than students viewing an unattractive plaintiff and an attractive defendant. However, in contrast to findings from general studies of interpersonal evaluation, analyses of student perceptions of the two litigants provided only limited evidence for a global (positive) physical attractiveness stereotype within the context of a simulated trial. Instead, the observed effect of physical attractiveness on student decisions was apparently mediated by differential perceptions of the seriousness of the accident itself. Possible implications of the results for the judicial process were mentioned.     

Of deadly beans and risky stocks: Political ideology and attitude formation via exploration depend on the nature of the attitude stimuli

An attitude formation task examined how conservatives and liberals explore information about novel stimuli and form attitudes towards them. When framed as the BeanFest game, conservatives sampled fewer beans and exhibited a stronger learning asymmetry (i.e., better learning for negative than positive beans) than liberals. This has been taken as strong evidence that conservatives are more sensitive to negative stimuli than liberals. We argue that the learning asymmetry and sampling bias by conservatives is due to framing of the game. In addition to the BeanFest, we framed the game as StockFest (i.e., a stock market game) where participants learned about novel stocks. We replicated the pronounced learning asymmetry for conservatives in the BeanFest game, but found a pronounced learning asymmetry for liberals in the StockFest game. We suggest that conservatives and liberals are equally sensitive to negative stimuli but in different domains.     

The task rule congruency effect in task switching reflects activated long-term memory

Reaction time task rule congruency effects (RT-TRCEs) reflect faster responses to stimuli for which the competing task rules indicate the same correct response than to stimuli indicating conflicting responses. The authors tested the hypothesis that RT-TRCE reflects activated overlearned response category codes in long-term memory (such as up or left). The results support the hypothesis by showing that (a) RT-TRCE was absent for tasks for which there were no response codes ready beforehand, (b) RT-TRCE was present after these tasks were practiced, and (c) these practice effects were found only if the tasks permitted forming abstract response category codes. The increase in the RT-TRCE with response slowness, found only for familiar tasks, suggests that the abstract response category codes may be verbal or linguistic in these cases. The results are discussed in relation to task-switching theories and prefrontal functions.     

Is there any scapegoat around? Determinants of intergroup conflicts at different categorization levels.

Recategorization at a higher level reduces tensions between groups. However, recategorization may cause conflicts between the common in-group and a new out-group. Additionally, determinants of conflict between subgroups may enhance conflict at the higher categorization level. In the context of German unification, the authors explored these suggestions with an East German 3-wave longitudinal study and a West German control group. Results show that a salient East German versus West German categorization enhances conflict between subgroups, whereas categorization as German enhances conflict at the common in-group level. Determinants of subgroup conflict also influence conflict at the inclusive level (Germans and foreigners). Thus, recategorization is a 2-edged instrument: Although it reduces conflict at the subgroup level, it may initiate conflict at the common in-group level.     

Instructed fear learning,extinction, and recall: additive effects of cognitive information on emotional learning of fear

The effects of instruction on learning of fear and safety are rarely studied. We aimed to examine the effects of cognitive information and experience on fear learning. Fourty healthy participants, randomly assigned to three groups, went through fear conditioning, extinction learning, and extinction recall with two conditioned stimuli (CS+). Information was presented about the presence or absence of conditioned stimulus–unconditioned stimulus (CS–US) contingency at different stages of the experiment. Information about the CS–US contingency prior to fear conditioning enhanced fear response and reduced extinction recall. Information about the absence of CS–US contingency promoted extinction learning and recall, while omission of this information prior to recall resulted in fear renewal. These findings indicate that contingency information can facilitate fear expression during fear learning, and can facilitate extinction learning and recall. Information seems to function as an element of the larger context in which conditioning occurs.     

Job satisfaction and firm performance: Can employees’ job satisfaction change the trajectory of a firm’s performance?

Contemporary trends in business have focused on enhancing the employee work experience. Proponents argue that doing so will improve employees’ productivity and ultimately the firm's performance. However, critics argue that job satisfaction has only a modest relationship with an employee's job performance, and therefore, such an investment will likely have little impact on the firm's financial performance. To investigate the relationship between employees’ job satisfaction and firm performance, we collected a sample of 404 employees working in 31 firms. We tested this relationship using latent growth modeling which allows us to latently examine how employees’ job satisfaction at one time point can predict the trajectory of firm performance. Study results indicated that job satisfaction predicted a positive linear change in two financial indices of firm performance (i.e., return on assets and return on equity) over the course of four years when controlling for three indicators of firm size. These results suggest that the effects of job satisfaction on firm performance are not immediate but rather take time to manifest.     

Interactions between depressed and nondepressed Latina mothers and their premature infants

The impact of depression upon mother–infant interaction was studied longitudinally in a sample of very low income, immigrant Latina mothers with premature, very low birth weight infants. Both maternal characteristics and infant characteristics were examined using a rating scale which measured feeding interactions. Results indicate that mothers who were depressed at one month did not interact differently with their premature infants than nondepressed mothers. In addition, infants of mothers who were depressed at one month did not interact differently with their mothers than infants of nondepressed mothers. There were no differences between groups of mothers who remained depressed across the one-year period and groups whose scores reflected no depression or changes in depression levels. These findings challenge previous assumptions about interactions between depressed mother–infant dyads. Results indicate the need to broaden study attention to include socioeconomic, cultural, and life circumstances of families that may have greater impact on child outcomes than single assessments of maternal depression. Such studies may lead to changes in the way services are delivered and the types of interventions provided to non-mainstream families. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health