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Description: The purpose of the current study was to investigate judgments made about a teacher being accused of criminal sexual contact with a student, where gender and attractiveness of the teacher are manipulated. We investigated whether attractiveness and gender of the alleged perpetrator impact mock juror assessment of length of sentence, length of time on the registry, likelihood of recidivism, conviction rating, victim blame and empathy. Participants (N = 180) were asked to read a vignette and respond to questionnaires. Our results suggest that attractiveness-driven halo effects are not ubiquitous, but rather interact with the gender of the perpetrator and if mock jurors believed the actions of the teacher was a sex offense. Participants who did not believe a sexual offense was committed did not convict the attractive male teacher, but they strongly convicted the attractive female teacher. There was no difference in conviction ratings across conditions for those who believed a sex offense occurred.
Suggested Citation:
Austin, A. C., Plumm, K.M., Terrance, C.A., & Terrell, H.K. (2013). No halo effect for sex offenders: An
examination of the effects of appearance and gender on the public's perception of sex offenders. [Electronic Version]. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice,
9(2), 124-136.
Keywords: sex offender, halo effect, attractiveness, gender
Date: Nov 07, 2013 | File Size: 371.16 Kb | Downloads: 1975