Effects of perspective taking on courtroom decisions |
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| Authors: | Jeanine L Skorinko Sean Laurent Kaitlin Bountress Kyi Phyu Nyein Daniel Kuckuck |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute;2. Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming;3. Department of Psychology, Arizona State University;4. Department of Psychology, Davidson College;5. Divinity School, University of Chicago |
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| Abstract: | Four experiments examined the hypothesis that perspective taking with a defendant would lead to greater empathy, which would mediate lowered perceptions of culpability, with lowered culpability mediating a lower probability of guilt and recidivism. Experiments 1 and 2 established that perspective taking leads to a lower probability of guilty verdicts and recidivism, mediated by a decreased perception of the defendant's culpability. Experiment 2 showed that it does so by increasing empathy. Experiment 3 showed that perspective taking also heightens the perception of culpability through increased empathy for the victim. Experiment 4 showed that decreased culpability is in part driven by leniency, which is also a function of empathy. We tie our findings into other research investigating links between empathy and perspective taking. |
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