Juror instructions are provided to jurors to inform them regarding the ways in which they can evaluate evidence in a trial. However, the effectiveness of the instructions varies on the basis of the jurors' information processing strategies. Moreover, when the jurors fail to comprehend and obey the instructions, they may be influenced by heuristic cues such as inflammatory evidence and negative emotions, rendering biased decisions. Mindset theory (Gollwitzer et al., 1990) postulates that a deliberative mindset is involved in objective impartial information processing, and mindset manipulation can influence unrelated subsequent tasks. The present study investigated the effect of juror instructions and a deliberative mindset on decision-making and anger in an emotion-laden mock trial. Assumption was that mock jurors should render not guilty verdict since no sufficient evidence to render guilty verdict was presented. The results demonstrated that mock jurors in the deliberative mindset were less angry than mock jurors in the neutral mindset. Further, mock jurors in the than mock jurors in the neutral mindset. Further, mock jurors in the mock jurors in the neutral mindset when they were not provided the instructions, while the frequency of rendering guilty verdicts between mock jurors in the two conditions did not differ when the instructions were provided. The effects of the juror instructions and cognitive processing on juror decision-making are discussed.

特集 : 伊東裕司教授 退職記念号
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