Youths’ Facial Appearance Distinguishes Leaders From Followers in Group-Perpetrated Criminal Offenses and Is Associated With Sentencing Outcomes

Abstract

Group-perpetrated crime often involves leaders and followers, but it is not currently understood how peer groups form around leaders during a criminal incident. Impression formation research has shown that specific facial cues are associated with leadership and perceptions of leadership. We extend this research to leadership among group-perpetrated youth crime and examine its role in downstream sentencing outcomes. Study 1 revealed that leaders of groups may be perceived as more dominant than their followers. In Study 2, participants were tasked with selecting the leaders from their groups and were more likely to (correctly) select targets perceived as more dominant but also (incorrectly) select targets perceived as more Trustworthy. In Study 3, we examined whether facial impressions were associated with downstream sentencing outcomes. Perceptions of Trustworthiness were associated with reduced sentencing, but dominance was unrelated. The results underscore the role that facial appearance plays in group formation and sentencing among youth.

Out of the Picture: Latinx and White Male Youths’ Facial Features Predict Their Juvenile Justice System Processing Outcomes

“…Yet beyond investigating the impact of race (e.g., Bennett & Plaut, 2017;Burch, 2015), only a few empirical studies have investigated the ways that different aspects of physical appearance might shape decision-making in the justice system (see King & Johnson, 2016;Petersen, 2017). Perhaps most importantly, previous research in this area has focused almost exclusively on adults in the justice system (see Johnson & King, 2017;Sutherland et al, 2020). Considering the long-term ramifications of receiving a juvenile record (Feld, 2017;Ulmer & Laskorunsky, 2016), it is critically important to examine whether facial appearance biases are present when youth are just coming to the attention of the juvenile justice system for the first time.…”