The Effects of Victim Stereotypicality, Crime Severity, and Individual Differences on Mock Jurors’ Ethnic Categorization, Attributions, and Decisions Toward a Hispanic Defendant of a Hate Crime

The Allen, Texas shooter is an example of a White supremacist who likely deviates from the stereotypical White person that most laypeople have come to expect (Mattheis et al., 2023; NPR, 2023). Although Garcia ethnically identified as Hispanic, he might have identified his race as White, as race and ethnicity are two separate constructs; however, jurors might not racially categorize a Hispanic defendant’s race the same way, which can subsequently impact their courtroom decisions. There is minimal research examining how factors of a hate crime, such as the stereotypicality of the victim’s race and crime severity, and traits and beliefs impact how jurors categorize a Hispanic defendant’s race in the context of a hate crime. The purpose of this study is to examine how the stereotypicality of a hate crime victim, severity of the crime, and various individual differences influence how mock jurors racially/ethnically categorize a Hispanic defendant, and how that categorization subsequently affects their attributions, verdicts, perceptions of hate crimes, and sentencing decisions. It is expected that the way in which mock jurors racially and ethnically categorize a defendant can influence their perceptions of the defendant, the crime, and subsequent verdict and sentencing decisions. Ethnic or racial minorities might be more likely to render lenient decisions to a Hispanic defendant who they categorize as racially or ethnically a minority than if they were to categorize the defendant as a majority member (similarity-leniency hypothesis). However, the opposite effect might occur, as minority jurors might be harsher toward a Hispanic defendant who threatens the in-group’s reputation of not being biased against others (black sheep effect). These effects might be further influenced by the stereotypicality of the victim. Additionally, it is expected that the racial and ethnic categorization of the defendant can influence mock jurors' attributions. if participants categorize the defendant as Hispanic, then they might attribute the crime to external, uncontrollable factors compared to if the defendant is categorized as White (i.e., a Hispanic person is not racist, so something in the environment that they did not have control over triggered them to commit the hate crime). If they categorize the defendant as White, then they might attribute the crime to internal, controllable, stable, and consistent factors (i.e., a White person is inherently racist and has been racist most of their life). Lastly, it is expected that SDO, political orientation, and levels of racism will predict how mock jurors categorize the defendant, which subsequently affects attributions, perceptions of hate crimes, verdicts, and sentences. Collective narcissism is also expected to function as a moderator between the relationship of defendant categorization and attributions.