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NEW RESEARCH SHOWS THAT
EMOTIONS CAUSE BIAS
By Jan Mills Spaeth, Ph.D.
Arizona Jury Research
A portion of this article was published in THE WRIT, the official publication of the
Pima County Bar Association, in February, 2006. This is a synopsis of a research
project.
Are negative stereotypes the primary cause of bias? Absolutely, according to
research over the past decades. Now, however, new studies have found that emotions
will predict intolerance and discriminatory behavior twice as well as do stereotypes.
What emotions are these? Pity, envy, disgust and pride. These are the primary
emotions found to correlate with prejudicial ideas toward social, cultural and religious
“outgroups. Not only do these four emotions exist across cultures and countries, but they
actually activate distinct parts of the brain, making prediction of behavior more reliable.
How do these emotions correlate with discrimination? People tend to rate
individuals or groups along two primary dimensions; warmth/affiliation and competence.
The “warmth” category includes qualities such as friendly, trustworthy and sincere, and a
sense of affiliation. The category of “competence” includes skillfulness and capability.
The various combinations of these two dimensions result in the four emotions.
For example, homeless people and drug addicts tend to be rated low on both
warmth and competence, prompting the emotion of “disgust”. The elderly and
handicapped are often rated high on warmth, and low in competence, resulting in the
“pity” reaction. Middle-class workers and teachers, for example, are rated high in
warmth and high in competence, causing the “pride” emotion. In contrast, the rich, along
with certain cultures or ethnic groups, tend to be viewed as competent, but not warm.
The reaction is “envy”.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
American Society of Trial Consultants American Psychological Association American College of Forensic Examiners
P.O. Box 91410, Tucson, AZ 85752-1410 (520) 297-4131 Fax (520) 797-4213,
jms@adjuryresearch.com
In these research studies, subjects were also asked to rate groups and individuals
on other scales, including harmfulness. It was found that those groups perceived with
disgust or envy also received a high “harmful” rating. In other words, these individuals
were viewed as potentially dangerous and untrustworthy. Not surprisingly, the two
groups perceived as potentially harmful (those in the envy and disgust categories) were
the ones most likely to be attacked when “the chips were down”.
This correlation between emotions and bias, which then leads to discrimination,
is critical to consider during witness preparation. In a medical malpractice case, for
example, if the defendant doctor comes across as competent but not warm, he could
evoke a reaction of envy from the jurors. Envy can lead to a “harmful” perception, which
is opposite of what the doctor would want to project. Our own research with focus groups
and witness preparation has supported this finding.
It is critical to determine whether a jury view your clients and witness with disgust,
pity, pride or envy. How will your clients and witnesses be viewed along the “warmth”
and “competent” scales? What about the opposing parties and witnesses? Once this is
determined, witness preparation and trial strategy can be specifically geared to adjust
these perceptions and scales to help evoke the desired emotions from the jury. Simply
put, knowledge is power.
(See “What’s Behind Prejudice,” Monitor on Psychology, 10-05, study by Dr.
Susan Fiske and Dr. Peter Glick (Princeton and Lawrence University psychologists).
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