Gender effects on individual verdicts and on mock jury verdicts in a ...

tested by varying the number of females on mock juries in a simulated acquaintance rape
trial. Specifically, juries were composed of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 female college students.
A difficulty in testing the predicted gender effect using college students is that a
substantial majority of students of both genders vote guilty. To address this difficulty,
two factors cited as increasing the number of not guilty verdicts, low moral character of
the victim and letting a casual acquaintance take her home from a bar, were used in the
simulated acquaintance rape trial.
METHOD
Participants
A total of 76 mock juries were formed from college student volunteers (426 women and
398 men) from classes in Introductory Psychology. They received class credit for
participation. Most of the students were 18 (43%) or 19 (23%) years old, with males
statistically significantly older than females (mean ages = 19.3 versus 18.9). Most were
white (85%), with 4% Asian, 3.2% Black, 3.2% Hispanic and 4% "Other." Nearly all
(96%) were single, with 37% either in, or had been in a sexual relationship. Most had one
or two siblings (40% and 30%, respectively).
Procedure
Sign-up sheets with 13 spaces were posted weekly. Spaces were marked "female" or
"male" for 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 women and 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3 or 0 men, respectively.
(There was an extra space for a male, as they were less likely than females to sign up and
to show up). The order of posting groups (number of females on the jury) was random,
with the restriction of 10 total sign-up sheets per group. Usually, two to three groups were
run at the same time of day. First, all student participants were given a packet composed
of a cover letter, trial and computer scantron. For the purpose of matching surveys and
scantrons, each packet had the same group number and subject number written on both
the survey and coded on the scantron.
Acquaintance Rape Trial
Following Pugh (1983) and Fischer (1991), students first read summary versions of the
alleged crime by the prosecuting attorney and by the defense. Briefly, the prosecutor's
version was that the plaintiff and some female friends went to a local restaurant and bar.
As there were no vacant tables, they accepted the invitation of a male stranger to share his
table. The friends left subsequently, and when the plaintiff was ready to leave, the
accused offered to accompany her home. Once there, he requested to come in to use the
bathroom, thereafter forcing his attentions on her, and she asked him to leave. Instead, the
accused got a knife from the kitchen and, under threats of violence, forced the victim to
undress and have sexual intercourse with him. The defense alleged that the plaintiff was a
willing participant in sex and, as a result of fear of discovery by her roommate or
boyfriend or by feelings of guilt, together with the accused's insistence on remaining and
a subsequent quarrel, charged him with rape and invented the story of threatening her