Gender, emotionality, and victim impact statements

摘要

The present study aims to examine the influence of emotional content and gender pertaining to victim impact statements (VIS) on sentencing outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - The authors used a 2 (emotionality) x 2 (participant gender) x 2 (victim gender) x 2 (statement gender) factorial design. Participants (n = 715) read a crime vignette and corresponding VIS, and completed questionnaires pertaining to sentencing recommendations, legal attitudes, and levels of emotional empathy (counterbalanced). Findings - Results indicated that participant gender was related to the emotional appeal of the VIS, and ratings of punishment severity. Emotional empathy was positively associated with perceptions of credibility and emotionality. Higher legal attitudes scores were positively correlated with higher minimum sentences, ratings of credibility, emotional appeal, as well as more severe punishments. Originality/value - This study has important implications with respect to perceptions of VIS in relation to how emotional they are, who the victim is, who the statement is written by, and who hears the statement. Given the lack of previous research in this area, the study provides data that warrant further investigation.