Death Penalty Decisions: Instruction Comprehension, Attitudes, and Decision Mediators

Abstract

This research tested jury comprehension of death penalty instructions and the use of evidence in capital punishment decision making. Two studies are presented. The first study (N = 245 undergraduates) was based on paper-and-pencil methods, and the second study (N = 735 jury-eligible participants) involved videotaped stimuli and deliberating mock jurors. Manipulations included instructions and several different variations in the evidence. Findings support previous research showing low comprehension of capital penalty instructions. Higher instruction comprehension was associated with higher likelihood of issuing life sentence decisions. The importance of instruction comprehension is emphasized in a social cognitive model of jury decision making at the sentencing phase of capital cases.