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Probability Discounting of Legal and non-Legal Scenarios: Discounting Varies as a Function of the Outcome, the Recipient’s Race, and the Discounter’s Sex

Probability Discounting of Legal and non-Legal Scenarios: Discounting Varies as a Function of the... The majority of criminal cases are decided through plea bargaining and probability discounting (i.e., the change in the value of an outcome as it becomes less probable) may aid in the understanding of this process. University students were asked to complete a probability-discounting task involving three legal and two monetary outcomes. Groups were divided in terms of the race of the defendant and the participant’s sex. Results showed that the plea bargain in the case of murder was discounted more steeply than the other crime scenarios, that the predictions of the leading theory of plea bargaining (i.e., decision theory) were inaccurate, and that males and females discounted differently (only) when the recipient was African American (regardless of the type of outcome). The present results have theoretical and practical implications and should serve to highlight the utility of studying plea bargaining within a probability-discounting framework. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Behavior and Social Issues Springer Journals

Probability Discounting of Legal and non-Legal Scenarios: Discounting Varies as a Function of the Outcome, the Recipient’s Race, and the Discounter’s Sex

Weatherly, Jeffrey; Kehn, Andre
Behavior and Social Issues , Volume 22 (1) – May 1, 2013
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13 pages

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by Jeffrey N. Weatherly & Andre Kehn
Subject
Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Personality and Social Psychology
ISSN
1064-9506
eISSN
2376-6786
DOI
10.5210/bsi.v22i0.4717
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The majority of criminal cases are decided through plea bargaining and probability discounting (i.e., the change in the value of an outcome as it becomes less probable) may aid in the understanding of this process. University students were asked to complete a probability-discounting task involving three legal and two monetary outcomes. Groups were divided in terms of the race of the defendant and the participant’s sex. Results showed that the plea bargain in the case of murder was discounted more steeply than the other crime scenarios, that the predictions of the leading theory of plea bargaining (i.e., decision theory) were inaccurate, and that males and females discounted differently (only) when the recipient was African American (regardless of the type of outcome). The present results have theoretical and practical implications and should serve to highlight the utility of studying plea bargaining within a probability-discounting framework.

Journal

Behavior and Social Issues – Springer Journals

Published: May 1, 2013

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