Perspective-taking in capital punishment decisions

Abstract Perspective-taking has been theorized to be a central psychological process in how people make punishment decisions. However, previous research has only tested theory in low-stakes or hypothetical contexts. The current research describes how jurors perspective-take in real capital punishment trials ( N = 1,198) and tests a series of hypotheses from previous research in a high-stakes, naturalistic context. In examining the predictors of perspective-taking, we found that jurors are more likely to perspective-take for white victims than black victims, but not more likely to perspective-take if the trial participant is demographically similar to themselves. We further uncovered new findings that older jurors perspective-take less (regardless of whether it is for perpetrators or victims), and women perspective-take for victims more than men do. In examining how perspective-taking relates to capital punishment decisions, we found that jurors who take victims’ perspectives are more likely to vote for the death penalty. We found mixed support for the theory that jurors who take defendants’ perspectives are more lenient. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for legal arguments on the arbitrary and biased nature of capital punishment decisions.