Diversity’s Impact on the Quality of Deliberations

Abstract

The present research builds on previous models of jury diversity’s benefits by exploring how diversity impacts the deliberation process. In Study 1, community members ( N = 433) participated in a jury decision-making study manipulating the strength of evidence (ambiguous vs. weak) and the diversity of the jury. When the evidence in the case was ambiguous, both white and black jurors made high-quality contributions to discussion in diverse juries than in nondiverse juries. In Study 2, undergraduate students ( N = 369) were randomly assigned to wealth and power conditions and then deliberated in diverse and nondiverse groups. Diverse juries were less likely to convict the defendant, and jurors on diverse juries made high-quality contributions to discussion. Although previous work has documented effects of diversity on high-status jurors’ contributions to deliberations, this work suggests that diversity may relate to more complex evidence evaluation for members of low-status groups as well.