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Speech style and occupational status affect assessments of eyewitness testimony
Author(s) -
Jules Sean J.,
McQuiston Dawn E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/jasp.12002
Subject(s) - psychology , style (visual arts) , eyewitness testimony , affect (linguistics) , social psychology , communication , literature , art
This study examined how speech style and occupational status affect mock jurors' assessments of eyewitness testimony. Mock jurors ( n = 120) watched a video of a man testifying about witnessing an attempted robbery. The eyewitness exhibited either a powerless or powerful speech style and reported either a high or low (or no) status occupation during his testimony. Results indicated that high occupation status and powerful speech style led to more favorable evaluations of the eyewitness's testimony and of the case against the defendant than powerless speech style and low/no occupation status. Implications of these results on considerations of eyewitness testimony and future research are discussed.