Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0008-3295-1683

Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Reader 1

Jennifer Ma

Reader 2

Egamaria Alacam

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

2026 London M Metcalf

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of similarity in gender between jurors and defendants on evaluations of punishment a defendant deserves for a crime involving self-defense. It was hypothesized that more similarity would lead to more empathy, and in turn, less severe punishment ratings. It was also predicted that as similarity increases, empathy also increases, and the likelihood of a guilty verdict decreases. Two hundred participants acting as mock jurors read vignettes describing a case where the defendant’s gender (male or female) and the use of self-defense (self-defense or no self-defense) were manipulated. After reading the vignette, they completed a questionnaire to assess their likelihood of rendering a certain verdict, punishment deserved, similarity, and empathy. Results were inconsistent with the hypothesized causal relationships due to a ceiling effect on the empathy variable and little variation across punishment ratings. While the study ultimately failed to support its hypotheses, results did indicate significant patterns in the expected directions and full mediation. Future directions could explore intensifying the content of the vignettes, examining the effects of different types of crime, and investigating other factors that may influence juror decision-making.

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