Chapter 15: Social Psychology in Court

The reliability of eyewitness testimony represents a central concern, as jurors often find eyewitness accounts highly persuasive despite substantial evidence that such testimony frequently contains errors. The misinformation effect demonstrates how exposure to misleading information after an event can distort actual memories, while repeated retelling of events increases witness confidence regardless of accuracy. Own-race bias affects recognition accuracy across racial groups, and a witness's stated confidence often bears only modest correlation with actual accuracy, yet jurors tend to favor confident witnesses. Cognitive interviewing techniques and sequential lineup procedures offer evidence-based methods to reduce misidentification errors. Beyond witness testimony, multiple defendant and victim characteristics influence juror decision-making, including physical attractiveness, demographic similarity between juror and defendant, and victim characteristics that can trigger harsher judgments. Jurors struggle to disregard inadmissible evidence despite explicit judicial instructions, and instructions to ignore information can paradoxically increase its influence through reactance. Individual jurors process complex information more effectively when presented in narrative form rather than statistical frameworks, and capital punishment cases involve death-qualified jurors who demonstrate greater authoritarianism and prosecution bias. Juries function as deliberative groups subject to predictable social influence patterns including majority rule, minority influence, group polarization, and leniency effects when evidence is ambiguous. Jury composition, particularly size, affects verdict representativeness and accuracy. The chapter emphasizes using psychological science to test assumptions about legal processes rather than relying on traditional but unexamined beliefs, promoting more equitable judicial outcomes through evidence-based understanding of human cognition and group behavior.