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Attractiveness In Court Cases

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What do Ted Bundy, Kenneth Bianchi, Charles Manson, Vera Renczi and Dr. Harold Shipman have in common? Is it their murder convictions or their undoubtedly renown physical attractiveness? According to Slapper & Kelly (2009), in trials by juries citizens are judged by their own coequals. But what when layperson’s judgement interferes with the outcome of the trial?

Literature has shown that physical attractiveness plays a fundamental role in different areas: social interaction (Chaiken, 1979; Cunningham et al., 1995), education (Cliffor & Walster, 1973; Buck & Tiene, 1989), employment (Johnson et al. 2010), politics (Chiu & Babcock, 2002; Little et al., 2007) and criminal justice (Darby & Jeffers, 1988; Efran, 1974; Stewart, 1980, 1985).

Numerous studies have corroborated that the more attractive the defendant is, the less likely is to be found guilty and to be severly convicted (Darby & Jeffers, 1988; Efran, 1974; Sigall & Ostrove, 1975; Stewart, 1980, 1985; Castellow et al., 1990). For instance, using a homicide scenario with both an attractive and unattractive male defendant, Landy and Aronson (1969) found that for the same type of crime, the attractive defendant was sentenced to fewer years than was the unattractive defendant. …show more content…

The same year, with a different scenario, Efran (1974) showed that male participants perceive the guilt of an attractive female less severe that for an unattractive female; whereas females are not influenced by the male defendant’s physical

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