The Effects Of Stress On Mock Judicial Decision Making

Every outcome of the judicial is related to the vital interests of individuals and social harmony.Therefore,the legal system and judicial procedures of all countries seek to ensure the objectivity,impartiality and authority of the judicial.Many studies have shown that the outcome of trial decisions will be affected by extra-legal factors that are unrelated to the case,and the individual's emotional state is one of many extra-legal factors.Stress,as a common emotional state of an individual,refers to a series of adaptive responses produced by the individual in the physiological,psychological,and behavioral aspects when the organism's internal homeostasis is unbalanced or threatened.In the current social situation,the pressure on judges is varied.Under the influence of stress,the individual's executive control ability is vulnerable to destruction,and the ability to regulate emotions will also decline.These cognitive functions play an important role in the decision-making process.In addition,many legal workers who have long been engaged in judicial practice have found that many legal decisions are based on uncertain facts.Due to the limitations of the current research,it is unknown whether the outcome of the trial decision will be affected by the stress or not,given the above information is not sufficient.To answer these questions,three experiments were conducted in this study.Study 1 used the Trier Social Stress Test(TSST)to induce individuals' acute stress states,while simultaneously manipulating the damage outcomes and criminal intentions of the case and to explore the impact of acute stress on trial decisions in individuals with illegal learning.As a result,it was found that the result of the injury and the criminal intent had an impact on the trial decision.Acute stress also has an impact on trial decisions,specifically as follows: Acute stress has no effect on conviction and specific punishment judgments,but on the possibility of conviction and the intensity of punishment.There is no interaction between stress,injury outcome and criminal intention.At the same time,negative emotions played a complete mediating role in the process.Study 2 will focus on chronic stress that is closer to daily life.We will choose to take postgraduate studies as chronic stress events,manipulate the results of injury and intentions of the case,and explore the impact of chronic stress on trial decisions among non-legal individuals.The results found that the injury outcome and criminal intent had an impact on the trial decision.The impact of chronic stress on trial decisions is mainly reflected in there is a positive correlation between stress-related emotions,such as positive emotions,and trial decisions.There is no interaction between stress,injury outcome and criminal intention.Study 3 will continue to focus on chronic stress,and at the same time,select individuals majoring in law as research objects,and national judicial examinations for chronic stress events,manipulate the results of injury and criminal intent of cases,to explore the effect of chronic stress on trial decisions among individuals majoring in law.At the same time,we will also examine the role of professional knowledge in the process.The effects of chronic stress on trial decision are mainly manifested as follows: chronic stress has no effect on the conviction,the possibility of conviction and the judgment of specific punishment,but the severity of punishment.There is no interaction between stress,injury outcome and criminal intention.Meanwhile,emotion plays a part of intermediary role in the process.The results also show that the judgment decisions of legal professionals are affected by stress.In addition,the results of three studies show that the result of injury affects the individual perception of the clarity of criminal intention,and there is also a correlation between the trial decision and the trait anxiety and justice sensitivity related to personal trait.The results show that injurious outcome and criminal intent influence trial decision,and acute and chronic stress also influence trial decision,but they are only different in terms of concrete expression.Emotion plays an important role in this process.The regulative effect of professional knowledge on the process of trial decision is not significant,but the individual trait influences the judicial decision-making.