Why emotions matter: Expectancy violation and affective response mediate the emotional victim effect.

Abstract

The mechanisms behind the 'emotional victim effect' (i.e., that the emotionality of a rape victim's demeanor affects perceived credibility) are relatively unexplored. In this article, a previously neglected mechanism--observers' affective response to the victim--is proposed as an alternative to the traditional expectancy-violation account. The emotional victim effect was replicated in an experiment with a sample of police trainees (N = 189), and cognitive load was found to increase the magnitude of the effect. Importantly, both compassionate affective response and expectancy violation actively mediated the emotional victim effect when the other mechanism was controlled for. These findings extend previous research on credibility judgments by introducing a 'hot' cognitive component in the judgment process. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Trials and Tribulations: Psychopathic Traits, Emotion, and Decision-Making in an Ambiguous Case of Sexual Assault

“…Based on the data above, it appears that mock jurors transfer their belief in who is telling the truth based on who is showing more emotion and whether this fits with expectations (e.g., Ask & Landström, 2010;Calhoun, Cann, Selby, & Magee, 1981). In general, research on both true and false allegations has reported that high levels of emotional expression (both in terms of demeanor and content of a claim) are more often associated with a genuine claims of criminal events (e.g., Kaufmann et al, 2003;Peace, Brower, & Shudra, 2012;Peace, Porter, et al, 2012;Wessel et al, 2006).…”

“…Similarly, other studies have found support for an emotive truth bias, where emotional claims and stories are more likely to be believed and perceived as truthful relative to non-emotional claims (e.g., Peace, Porter, & Almon, 2012;Peace & Sinclair, 2012). Also relevant to consider is whether the emotional display of a victim is consistent with or in violation of expected norms, also called expectancy violation (i.e., a violation of a predicted pattern in behavior or emotions; Ask & Landström, 2010;Burgoon, 1993). When an expectancy violation is made, attention is drawn away from the content of the situation and toward the individual in violation, and the possible reasons for that violation (Burgoon, 1993).…”

“…Their hypothesis that E-processors would be more likely influenced by extralegal factors due to reliance on intuition and emotion was supported, and extraneous information was more heavily considered in determining verdicts. As such, the processing style utilized by a juror is an important factor to consider within the legal system, especially in cases such as sexual assault that are known to be highly emotionally inflammatory and contain many implicit stereotypes about victim and defendant behaviour (e.g., Ask & Landström, 2010;Du Mont, Miller, & Myhr, 2003;Klippenstine & Schuller, 2012).…”

“…When an expectancy violation is made, attention is drawn away from the content of the situation and toward the individual in violation, and the possible reasons for that violation (Burgoon, 1993). Therefore, the expectancy of an emotional response (i.e., should the person be expressing emotion) may be a more important determinant of truthfulness than emotional displays on their own (e.g., Ask & Landström, 2010;Klippenstine & Schuller, 2012;Hackett, Day, & Mohr, 2008).…”

Expectations about victim and offender behaviour during stranger rape

“…For example, Ask and Landstrom (2010) established that, in relation to the emotional expressiveness of a rape victim, some people have expectations about the emotions a rape victim will display when reporting their rape to the police. For those participants who held these expectations, the emotionally expressive victim was assessed as more credible compared to the non-emotionally expressive victim (see also Hackett, Day, & Mohr, 2008;Klippenstein & Schuller, 2012).…”