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Guilty By Reason Of Vanity?: The Relationship Between Jurors’ Socioeconomic Status And Trial Outcome, Zoë Sweaney

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The following paper summarizes the implications, processes, and preliminary findings from a research study conducted by an undergraduate psychology student at Lindenwood University. The study experimentally investigated the relationship between a juror’s socioeconomic status (SES) and the likelihood that they would choose to convict a randomly selected defendant. It was hypothesized that a participant of a higher SES would be more likely to convict a defendant than would a participant of a lower SES. To investigate the validity of this hypothesis, participants (N=13) posing as jurors completed an online survey in which they were tasked with evaluating the details of …