The effect of mortality salience on death penalty sentencing decisions when the defendant is severely mentally ill

Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research,Volume 9, Issue 2, April 2017. Purpose Mortality is a salient factor during capital sentencing. This research examines the role death plays in jurors ’ decisions when sentencing a severely mentally ill defendant who is subject to possible discrimination in a capital trial because of that status. Design/methodology/approach The current experiment measured venire jurors’ (n=133) Mental Illness Dangerousness Beliefs (MIDB), and then experimen tally manipulated type of mortality salience (dual-focused: participants who contemplated their own mortality and were exposed to trial-related death references vs. trial focused: only exposed to death references) and the type of defendant (severely mentally ill vs. neutral) accused of a capital off ense. Findings Mock jurors perceived mental illness to be an important mitigating factor when dual (i.e., self) focused mortality salience was induced, whereas participants only exposed to trial-related death references considered mental illness to be an aggravating factor in sentencing and were more likely to evidence stereotype adherence toward the defendant. Practical implications Mock jurors perceived mental illness to be an important mitigating factor when dual (i.e., self) focused mortality salience was induced, whereas participants only exposed to trial-related death references co nsidered mental illness to be an aggravating factor in sentencing and were more likely to evidence st...

Source: Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research - January 31, 2017 Category: Criminology Source Type: research