The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions
In the United States, courts say a jury must determine whether a defendant is an Indian subject to federal jurisdiction; however, jurors are provided little guidance regarding what to consider in their Indian status determinations. Given the jurisdictional and legal defense implications Indian statu...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/6/824 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850157004278988800 |
|---|---|
| author | Kimberly Schweitzer Dan Lewerenz |
| author_facet | Kimberly Schweitzer Dan Lewerenz |
| author_sort | Kimberly Schweitzer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the United States, courts say a jury must determine whether a defendant is an Indian subject to federal jurisdiction; however, jurors are provided little guidance regarding what to consider in their Indian status determinations. Given the jurisdictional and legal defense implications Indian status decisions have, we tested whether jurors consider two easily accessible potential indicators of Indian race: appearance and name. We examined whether mock jurors’ (<i>N</i> = 825) stereotypes of Indians influenced their determinations of whether a defendant is an Indian and whether that defendant is guilty of the crime alleged using a fully crossed 3 (defendant photo Indian stereotypicality: high, low, and none) × 3 (defendant name Indian stereotypicality: high, low, and none) between-participants design, controlling for participants’ feelings toward Indians as a group and internal and external motivations to respond without prejudice. In general, neither the defendant’s name nor photo stereotypicality predicted Indian status determinations, but jurors who thought the defendant was an Indian were more likely to find the defendant guilty. Thus, mock jurors consider factors other than the defendant’s name and appearance when deciding whether the defendant is Indian, but if the defendant is considered Indian, mock jurors are more likely to find the defendant guilty. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e2fb0e3d6996413294e0355f277a0e66 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-e2fb0e3d6996413294e0355f277a0e662025-08-20T02:24:18ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2025-06-0115682410.3390/bs15060824The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt DecisionsKimberly Schweitzer0Dan Lewerenz1Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, 501 N. Columbia Road, Stop 8380, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USASchool of Law, University of North Dakota, 215 Centennial Dr., Stop 9003, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USAIn the United States, courts say a jury must determine whether a defendant is an Indian subject to federal jurisdiction; however, jurors are provided little guidance regarding what to consider in their Indian status determinations. Given the jurisdictional and legal defense implications Indian status decisions have, we tested whether jurors consider two easily accessible potential indicators of Indian race: appearance and name. We examined whether mock jurors’ (<i>N</i> = 825) stereotypes of Indians influenced their determinations of whether a defendant is an Indian and whether that defendant is guilty of the crime alleged using a fully crossed 3 (defendant photo Indian stereotypicality: high, low, and none) × 3 (defendant name Indian stereotypicality: high, low, and none) between-participants design, controlling for participants’ feelings toward Indians as a group and internal and external motivations to respond without prejudice. In general, neither the defendant’s name nor photo stereotypicality predicted Indian status determinations, but jurors who thought the defendant was an Indian were more likely to find the defendant guilty. Thus, mock jurors consider factors other than the defendant’s name and appearance when deciding whether the defendant is Indian, but if the defendant is considered Indian, mock jurors are more likely to find the defendant guilty.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/6/824Indian statusmock juror decision-makingdefendant name stereotypicalitydefendant photo stereotypicality |
| spellingShingle | Kimberly Schweitzer Dan Lewerenz The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions Behavioral Sciences Indian status mock juror decision-making defendant name stereotypicality defendant photo stereotypicality |
| title | The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions |
| title_full | The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions |
| title_short | The Role of Stereotypes in Jurors’ Indian Status Determinations and Guilt Decisions |
| title_sort | role of stereotypes in jurors indian status determinations and guilt decisions |
| topic | Indian status mock juror decision-making defendant name stereotypicality defendant photo stereotypicality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/6/824 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kimberlyschweitzer theroleofstereotypesinjurorsindianstatusdeterminationsandguiltdecisions AT danlewerenz theroleofstereotypesinjurorsindianstatusdeterminationsandguiltdecisions AT kimberlyschweitzer roleofstereotypesinjurorsindianstatusdeterminationsandguiltdecisions AT danlewerenz roleofstereotypesinjurorsindianstatusdeterminationsandguiltdecisions |