Abuse in Sports: The Influence of Defendant and Victim Gender, Type of Abuse, Type of Sport, and Delayed Reporting on Mock Juror Decision-Making

With an increase in athletes coming forward alleging abuse from their coach, the current studies sought to examine how mock jurors perceive accusations of abuse within a sports setting. Study 1 ( N = 1,264) varied coach/defendant gender, athlete/victim gender, type of abuse (physical vs. emotional), and type of sport (hockey vs. gymnastics). Study 2 ( N = 935) expanded on Study 1 by replacing the type of abuse with delayed reporting (5- vs. 20- vs. 35 years). Participants were presented with a mock-trial transcript and then answered a series of questions pertaining to the defendant’s guilt, perceptions of the defendant and victim, as well as questions related to gender role beliefs and memory (Study 2). In Study 1, we found that overall, higher guilt ratings were given to the defendant when the abuse was physical compared to emotional. Additionally, higher guilt was attributed to the male defendant when the victim was male, and the sport was hockey, and higher guilt was attributed to a female defendant when the victim was male, and the sport was gymnastics. In Study 2, higher guilt was attributed to the defendant when the defendant was female, the victim was male, and the victim delayed reporting for 35 years. In both studies, low endorsement of gender role beliefs was associated with higher ratings of guilt, less favorable perceptions of the defendant, and more favorable perceptions of the victim. The findings from the current study highlight the importance of the impact of extralegal factors on mock jurors’ decisions when the abuse occurs in a sporting context.