The Psychology of Judges

Question 1

How are judges, overall?

Answer 1

Overall, judges are excellent decision makers and sometimes resist common errors of judgement that influence ordinary adults, but still vulnerable to systematic deviations.

Question 2

When do judges personal characteristics influence decision making?

Answer 2

When cases raise issues salient to judge’s personal characteristics.

Overreact to accountability.

Rely too heavily on intuitive ways that can be misleading.

Rely on factors outside of record such as inadmissible evidence, emotional reactions, and prejudices.

Question 3

When does religion, gender, race, and past employment influence judges?

Answer 3

A judges race seems to matter most when race is a central issue in the case.

The presence of a female judge adds a different perspective that disproportionally alters the ultimate outcome in title 9 cases.

Question 4

What are some other influences that distort a judges decision making?

Answer 4

Promotion or pressure of elections can distort decisions.

Judges suffer from logical fallacy.

Rely heavily on intuitive mental shortcuts.

Rely on misleading heuristics.

Egocentric bias.

Sympathy for or antipathy toward litigants.

Question 5

What is egocentric bias?

Answer 5

Most judges think they are “above average” at their skill.

Question 6

What are cognitive heuristics (mental shortcuts)?

Answer 6

Anchoring

Hindsight bias

Confirmation bias

Framing effects