Citation

Matsuo K, Itoh Y. Psychiatry Psychol. Law. 2016; 23(1): 85-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13218719.2015.1032954

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present study investigated the combined and individual effects of emotional testimony and gruesome photographs on mock jurors' verdict decisions and emotions. Participants (n = 127) were provided with a murder trial transcript and then rendered verdicts in a 2 (emotional testimony: present, absent) × 2 (gruesome photographs: present, absent) between-groups design. They also rated their negative emotions before and after the transcript. The results indicated a combined effect of emotional testimony and gruesome photographs on verdict decisions: the emotional testimony alone had a significant effect on guilty verdicts while the gruesome photographs had only a marginally significant effect. Negative emotions were aroused by the emotional testimony when the gruesome photographs were not presented. The impact of emotional evidence on verdict decisions is discussed.

Language: en