The More You Know: Information About Juvenile Psychosocial Maturity Influences Mock Jurors’ Perceptions and Decision-making

Abstract

We examined how juvenile defendant psychosocial maturity, age, and gender influence mock jurors’ perceptions. Jury-eligible participants ( N = 1,850) ages 18 to 73 ( M = 27.81, SD = 11.47) were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk ( n = 994) and a college campus ( n = 858). Participants acted as mock jurors and were randomly assigned to an experimental condition manipulating defendant psychosocial maturity, age, and gender. After reading case vignettes and expert testimony about the defendant’s psychosocial maturity, participants reported their perceptions of the defendant’s responsibility for the crime, guilt, and appropriate sentencing. Participants perceived less mature adolescents as less responsible for criminal behavior and were less likely to find them guilty, irrespective of age. Jurors viewed girls more harshly than boys.