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While reading my assigned chapter for my Applied Psychology class, I found an interesting concept that was directly related to our class. The Pygmalion Effect (for those who don't know) is when people unintentionally influence others to perform a certain way because they expect them too. It's sort of like the self-fulfilling prophecy concept but only applied to a social situation. The studies on the Pygmalion Effect were conducted in regards to certain students performing better in the classroom because the teacher expected them to do so. Interestingly enough, this same concept can be applied to judges unintentionally influencing the juries decision based on their own perceived notion that the defendant is guilty. Studies found that if the judge believed that the defendant was guilty, he gave many non-verbal cues that would indicate that belief despite appearing unbiased. Also, despite jurors believing that they were unswayed by the judge's demeanor, studies found that juries would return with a guilty verdict more often when the judge believed the defendant was guilty.
I found this topic extremely interesting and I'm currently in the process of researching more about it. From the information I gathered so far on the topic, there was a study conducted where a mock jury was shown a video tape of a trial then a separate video of the judge giving juror instructions. The separate video was of the juror instructions the judge had given from an entirely different trial (one which the judge had an unspoken belief of the defendant's guilt). The mock jury was then asked to render a verdict. The study found that jurors who viewed the instructions from a trial in which the judge believed the defendant was guilty came back with a guilty verdict between 43%-57% (cited from Applied Psychology New Frontiers and Rewarding Careers, chapter 5: Applying Psychological Research on Interpersonal Expectation and Covert Communication in Classrooms, Clinics, Corporations, and Courtrooms by Robert Rosenthal)!
While reading my assigned chapter for my Applied Psychology class, I found an interesting concept that was directly related to our class. The Pygmalion Effect (for those who don't know) is when people unintentionally influence others to perform a certain way because they expect them too. It's sort of like the self-fulfilling prophecy concept but only applied to a social situation. The studies on the Pygmalion Effect were conducted in regards to certain students performing better in the classroom because the teacher expected them to do so. Interestingly enough, this same concept can be applied to judges unintentionally influencing the juries decision based on their own perceived notion that the defendant is guilty. Studies found that if the judge believed that the defendant was guilty, he gave many non-verbal cues that would indicate that belief despite appearing unbiased. Also, despite jurors believing that they were unswayed by the judge's demeanor, studies found that juries would return with a guilty verdict more often when the judge believed the defendant was guilty.
I found this topic extremely interesting and I'm currently in the process of researching more about it. From the information I gathered so far on the topic, there was a study conducted where a mock jury was shown a video tape of a trial then a separate video of the judge giving juror instructions. The separate video was of the juror instructions the judge had given from an entirely different trial (one which the judge had an unspoken belief of the defendant's guilt). The mock jury was then asked to render a verdict. The study found that jurors who viewed the instructions from a trial in which the judge believed the defendant was guilty came back with a guilty verdict between 43%-57% (cited from Applied Psychology New Frontiers and Rewarding Careers, chapter 5: Applying Psychological Research on Interpersonal Expectation and Covert Communication in Classrooms, Clinics, Corporations, and Courtrooms by Robert Rosenthal)!
The Pygmalion effect is definitely something that most of us may not even think about on a day-to-day basis. I enjoyed reading this blog post because the whole concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy comes into play in our relationships. For example when me and my ex would talk about where we would go out to eat that night. She would propose two restuarants which was a hint that those were more choices. Regardless of whether she took that into consideration or not, it did in fact alter my behavior and how I would respond. Various "tells" that people give off are very important in society and especially law. If a jury selection all happen to feel that the judge gave off certain biases (even inadvertently), then it is going to cause aversive effects to the decision process (guilty vs. innocent).
correction on my comment: line that reads **hint that those were more choices** was suppose to say "hint that those were my only choices"