London - Women charged with murder who plead self- defence are more likely to be perceived as guilty if they have “thick lips” and “smooth and harmonious facial features”, reveals a study.
The findings, published in the European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, were made by a team from the University of Grenada, Spain, and contradict the stereotype that beauty deflects criminal responsibility.
They found that in the case of a woman claiming self-defence in the killing of an abusive husband, police officers were more likely to regard as innocent defendants who were described as unattractive.
The findings also showed women who were perceived as more independent and in charge of their lives were more likely to be seen as guilty of murder.
Legal processes are ideally conducted without bias, but in reality biases influence all human judgements and looking at how these prejudices shape behaviour should help to minimise their effect.
In the past, social psychology has widely accepted the contention that beautiful people are less likely to be regarded as criminally responsible.
As the study’s authors put it: “Attractive people are often perceived as having positive personality features and attributes in consonance with the implicit theory that ‘beauty is goodness’.” This “halo effect” has also been shown to influence the perception of other traits, with attractive people seen as “more sociable, friendly, warm, competent and intelligent than unattractive individuals”.
To test this effect in the scenario of domestic violence, the team created fictitious scenarios in which a woman was accused of stabbing her husband to death as he lay in bed.
In each case, the woman’s story was that she had been the victim of years of domestic violence and had finally killed her husband out of self-defence. The only difference between narratives was the defendant’s description.
In one story she was described with features typically regarded as beautiful: “Maria is an attractive woman with thick lips; smooth, harmonious facial features; straight blonde hair; and a slender and elegant appearance.”
In the other story she’s described as “unattractive”:
“Maria is an unattractive woman with thin lips, stern and jarring facial features, dark bundled hair, and is neither slender nor elegant in appearance.”
The other variable, which was evaluated separately from the defendant’s physical attractiveness, was her likeness to the “prototype of a battered woman”.
In some of the stories: “Maria is a 36-year-old housewife with two children who has been married for 10 years. Maria wears sunglasses that hide her face, has poor personal appearance and dress, and is timid in answering the judge or lawyers’ questions.”
While other stories: “Maria is a financial consultant of a leading company; has no children and has been married for 10 years. Maria is a well-dressed fashion-conscious woman, calm and resolute in her interactions with the judge and lawyers.”
The researchers then showed 169 Spanish police officers one of the stories each and had them give their judgement on the defendant’s guilt.
The results were surprising. It was found that the “unattractive women defendants were attributed less criminal responsibility”.
The researchers were less surprised to find, however, that the defendant who did not fit the stereotype of a battered woman was more likely to be regarded as guilty. She was seen as having “more control over the situation, which in legal terms can translate as a higher degree of guilt”, the team said.
The study’s authors say their research has implications for the way police are trained to deal with domestic violence.
– Daily Mail