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Description:
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People often use preconceived biases to make judgments about other people . This phenomenon is also known to occur in the justice system . Juror bias research has investigated how characteristics , such as physical attractiveness , age , race , and gender , of a defendant can influence jurors' and even judges' decisions about guilt verdicts and sentencings . The characteristics of the victims have also been found to create biases in juror research . More specifically , in cases involving child sexual assault , the age of the victim has been found to influence jurors' perceptions . This dissertation investigated how the effects of defendant and victim characteristics (victim and defendant age and race ) combined influenced jurors' perceptions of defendant guilt , defendant and victim credibility , honesty , responsibility , and mental competence . The results indicated that participant gender and victim age were far more likely to influence perceptions of the defendant and the victim . Defendant age did not influence results significantly . |