Matsuo Kayo, Itoh Yuji
Advanced Research Centers, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of psychology, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2017 Jan 16;24(4):516-529. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2016.1254588. eCollection 2017.
Although limiting instructions are provided for specific evidence that may have a negative impact on jurors' decision-making, there may be individual differences in the effectiveness of the instructions. The individual predisposition towards the enjoyment of cognitive activity is called need for cognition (NFC), and individuals high in NFC tend to seek out and engage in cognitive activity spontaneously. The present study examined the influence of NFC and limiting instructions about emotional evidence on mock jurors' legal decision-making. The results showed that mock jurors who were lower in NFC were more likely to render a guilty decision than those higher in NFC, and that the tendency was more salient when the limiting instructions were presented compared with when they were not presented. Similar results were found in regard to sentencing decisions and arousal of anger. A partial mediation effect of anger was found between NFC and verdict decisions. The influence of NFC on the limiting instructions and legal decision-making as well as the effect of anger on the decision is discussed in relation to these results.
尽管针对可能对陪审员决策产生负面影响的特定证据提供了限制性说明，但这些说明的效果可能存在个体差异。个体对认知活动享受的倾向被称为认知需求（NFC），NFC得分高的个体倾向于自发地寻求并参与认知活动。本研究考察了NFC以及关于情感证据的限制性说明对模拟陪审员法律决策的影响。结果表明，NFC得分较低的模拟陪审员比NFC得分较高的陪审员更有可能做出有罪裁决，并且与未给出限制性说明时相比，给出限制性说明时这种倾向更为明显。在量刑决策和愤怒唤起方面也发现了类似的结果。在NFC和裁决决策之间发现了愤怒的部分中介效应。结合这些结果讨论了NFC对限制性说明和法律决策的影响以及愤怒对决策的影响。
