He Said, She Said, They Said: Gender Identity, Displayed Emotion, and Perceptions of Sexual Assault

Abstract

Studies demonstrate that gender minorities experience heightened victimization rates relative to cisgender persons. However, little is known regarding how prospective jurors perceive these victims. The present study utilized a between-subject multivariate design evaluating perceptions relating to the crime, victim, perpetrator, and criminal justice responses. Participants (N = 243) read a trial transcript that depicted victims in an ambiguous sexual assault trial as either cisgender men, cisgender women, transgender men, transgender women, or nonbinary persons and as exhibiting either high or low levels of emotionality. After reviewing the trial transcript, the participants completed a judgment questionnaire and two measures of bias in relation to gender and sexual identity. Our data yielded several interesting findings within an applied sample, particularly concerning emotional displays for nonbinary or transgender victims. In particular, participants viewed nonbinary victims (relative to transgender and cisgender victims) as least credible (i.e., subject to victim blaming) when they displayed high levels of emotion and as most credible when they displayed low levels of emotion. However, the opposite effect appeared for transgender persons (i.e., least credible in the low emotion condition). This effect was most prominent for transgender women, whom participants viewed as the least credible overall. The results of this study suggest that we have varying expectations regarding gender minority victims, particularly concerning their displayed emotion levels. These findings have important implications for the criminal justice system, including mitigating victim biases against gender minorities.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristine Peace