Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, U.S.A.
Behav Sci Law. 2011 May-Jun;29(3):395-418. doi: 10.1002/bsl.969. Epub 2011 Feb 8.
Jurors' decision-making processes are often influenced by extra-legal factors, including judgments of defendants and plaintiffs. Two studies comparing the decisions of university students with those of community jurors sought to determine if extra-legal factors such as individual differences (including identity as a student or juror participant), the reason for surgery (medically necessary vs. elective), the type of surgery (e.g., gastric bypass, nasal reconstruction) or weight of the patient influenced jurors' decisions and perceptions in medical malpractice suits, such that participants would hold negative perceptions of overweight patients or patients who undergo elective surgeries. Results indicate that students and jurors differ in perceptions of the patient's injury and perceptions of risk, which explains some of the variance in liability verdicts. Students were more likely to find doctors liable, but also were more likely to assign responsibility to patients than were jurors. Patients who had undergone elective surgery were seen as more responsible for their situation - and their doctors were assigned less responsibility - than those who had undergone a medically necessary surgery. Tests of weight bias showed that jurors found overweight patients less responsible for their situation than patients of normal weight, but students showed the opposite pattern. Theoretical explanations are explored and implications discussed.
陪审员的决策过程往往受到法律因素以外的因素的影响，包括对被告和原告的判断。两项比较大学生和社区陪审员决策的研究试图确定法律因素以外的因素，如个体差异（包括学生或陪审员参与者的身份）、手术原因（医学上必需的与选择性的）、手术类型（如胃旁路手术、鼻重建）或患者体重是否会影响医疗事故诉讼中的陪审员决策和看法，使参与者对超重患者或接受选择性手术的患者持有负面看法。结果表明，学生和陪审员对患者伤害和风险的看法存在差异，这解释了责任判决中的一些差异。学生更有可能认为医生有责任，但也比陪审员更有可能将责任归咎于患者。接受选择性手术的患者被认为对自己的情况更负责任——他们的医生承担的责任更少——而接受医学上必需手术的患者则不是这样。对体重偏见的测试表明，陪审员认为超重患者对自己的情况不负责任，而不是体重正常的患者，而学生则表现出相反的模式。探讨了理论解释并讨论了其影响。
