Jurors' Locus of Control and Defendants' Attractiveness in Death Penalty Sentencing
Crystal M. Beckham, et al.
This study investigated the often debated topic of whether or not how attractive someone is will affect if they get the death penalty when tried in court. The defendant’s attractiveness and how much the jurors believe that they are in control of their own fate are believed to have an effect on how jurors view the defendant. There have been many other studies done which show that both children and adults who are considered attractive receive preferential treatment over others who are not considered to be attractive. Both children and adults who are considered attractive have been shown to receive a less harsh punishment for misbehavior than those who would be considered less attractive, and unattractive children are often believed to be not as popular as their attractive peers. With this in mind, it would seem that a person’s attractiveness would have an affect on his or her sentencing in court.
The authors give many examples of previous studies done in which more attractive people are given better treatment when in court. Some received lighter punishment, while others received greater rewards, like in the case of property damage. However, if the jury feels that the defendant is using his or her good looks to try to gain an advantage, they will often judge the person more harshly and give heavier verdicts.
The authors also believed that the jurors’ “Locus of Control” would affect their sentencing. A person’s “Locus of Control” shows whether they believe that they have control of their own fate of if they believe that their destiny is out of their own hands. People who believe that they have control over their own fate tend to be less likely to help others out because they believe that the person should be able to do it themselves while people who feel like it is out of their control tend to be more likely to help others out.
In this study, the authors selected ninety people who had been called to jury duty and thirty-six graduate students from a local school. Each was asked to fill out a paper with his or her demographics and asked if he or she believed in giving the death penalty. If they said they did they were accepted into the study, 98 of the participants did so. After this, each person looked at a picture of someone and read what he or she was convicted for, then they each had to choose if the person should have life in prison or the death penalty.
Contrary to what the authors expected, the attractiveness of the defendant and the “Locus of Control” of each juror seemed to have very little effect on the jury’s choices. In fact, the biggest differences were found between sex and age. In general, men were more likely than women to pick the death penalty, with the youngest men being the exception. Also, younger women were more likely to choose the death penalty than older women.
This study relates to our class because it shows that a person’s sex and age can greatly affect the choices they make and the beliefs they have. The timeframe that you grow up in and your sex has a major effect on how you are raised which in turn has a great effect on how you view yourself and others. The sociological context of your life determines a lot about who you are.