The Effect of Textual and Verbal Contextual Information on the Humanization of Defendants

This experiment probes the humanizing effect of verbal cues on measures of punitiveness, empathy, and dehumanization within criminal sentencing. Results reveal a powerful, mitigating effect of defendant voice on participants’ prescribed punishments (p < 0), feelings of empathy (p < 0), and endorsement of dehumanizing beliefs (p < 0).