Date of Award
5-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Honors Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Stacy Wetmore
Second Advisor
Alex Roehrkasse
Abstract
Jailhouse informant testimony is a leading cause of wrongful conviction, especially in severe cases (e.g., rape and murder) with severe punishments (Warden, 2005). The current study investigated the impact of multiple jailhouse informants’ testimonies upon juror decisionmaking, especially when providing consistent or inconsistent testimony. Participants (n = 102) read a murder trial summary with two informants - consistent statements, two informants - inconsistent statements, one informant, or no informant. Results indicated that the multipleconsistent condition had significantly higher guilty verdicts and higher perceptions of credibility than all other informant conditions. Inconsistent statements reduced guilty verdicts and perceptions of credibility, yet did not differ from the single informant condition. Findings can be understood through the Truth Default theory in which the inconsistent testimony triggers suspicion of the informant.
Recommended Citation
Pierce, Anna, "Behind Bars, Behind Lies: The Role of Jailhouse Informants in Juror Decision Making" (2025). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 790.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/790