Trial by Tabloid: Can Implicit Bias Education Reduce Pretrial Publicity Bias?

Angela M. Jones, Kimberly A. Wong, Courtney N. Meyers, Christine Ruva

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Western District of Washington recently developed an educational video to reduce jurors’ implicit biases. Little is known regarding the effectiveness of this proposed remedy to address a range of implicit biases. This study tested whether this educational video reduces pretrial publicity (PTP) bias. A total of 330 undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to read PTP or unrelated articles. An average of 9 days later, they were randomly assigned to watch the educational video prior to viewing a murder trial. Those exposed to PTP were more likely to convict and found the defendant more culpable and less credible. The educational video did not reduce PTP bias. A more tailored debiasing strategy may be needed to overcome the biasing effects of PTP. Differences in legal decisions also emerged depending on whether participants completed the second phase in-person or online, which has implications for future data collection modes.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalCriminal Justice and Behavior
Volume49
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2022

Keywords

  • juror decision-making
  • pretrial publicity
  • bias
  • debiasing strategies

Disciplines

  • Psychology
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences

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