Emotional arousal and ‘objective’ judgment

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of emotionally arousing stimuli on later ‘objective’ judgments by using a brief summary of a personal injury case either with or without color slides of the victim. Information contained in such pictures is in principle extraneous to the objective facts in the case, and some courts do bar such material. An assessment was made of the actual effect of such material on judgments. Could subjects ignore it and base their decisions on objective information alone, or would their emotional arousal actually sway their opinions? Results showed that, indeed, even in the context of an objective legal setting, the slides caused a significant effect on judgments. © 1976, The Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.