Situational and Victims' Characteristics in Simulated Penal Judgments

Abstract

Two hypotheses were tested: that ratings of appropriate prison sentences would be increased by the vulnerability of the victim, and that these ratings would be increased by the extent to which the victim was responsible for the crime. For 90 introductory social psychology students as subjects the first hypothesis was supported, but the second hypothesis rejected since a marginally significant effect was found in the direction opposite to the one predicted. Females gave greater prison terms (marginally statistically significant) but this seemed to be due to features of the crime involved rather than a general tendency for females to be more punitive.