ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

This study examined the effects of the defendant-victim relationship and the defendant’s negative character evidence on case judgments in a child abuse case. Three hundred adults were randomly assigned to one of six conditions in a 3 (defendant-victim relationship: mother-daughter, stepmother-stepdaughter, orphanage director-resident) × 2 (defendant’s negative character evidence: present or absent) factorial design. Participants read a child abuse case summary and responded to case judgment measures. The results revealed an interaction effect between the defendant-victim relationship and the negative character evidence on judgments of intent and sentencing decisions. Mediation analyses indicated that negative evaluations of the defendant fully mediated the relationships between both independent variables (defendant-victim relationship and the character evidence) and sentencing. These findings highlight the discrepancy between the impact of the defendant-victim relationship on case judgments and the aggravating punishment provisions of the current law and the defendant’s negative character evidence indirectly affected the sentencing decision. Implications for jury instructions and future research were discussed.

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