1) The study investigated whether black offenders with more stereotypical black facial features were more likely to receive the death penalty than white offenders using photos of black defendants from death penalty cases rated on stereotypicality. 2) Results showed that defendants rated as more stereotypically black were 57.5% more likely to receive the death penalty, while less stereotypically black defendants were 22.4% likely. 3) When the defendant and victim were both black, stereotypicality had no significant effect, suggesting black victims are seen as less important.

1. Eberhardt Investigation of the relation between stereotypically black features in offenders and the likelihood of receiving the death sentence.

2. Aim To investigate whether there was support for the hypothesis that black offenders with stereotypical black features were more likely to get the death sentence than white offenders.

3. Methodology Lab experiment.

4. Procedure Analysis of the database of death-eligible cases in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that advanced to penalty phase between 1979 and 1999. In 44 cases a black man had murdered a white victim. Their photographs were shown to naive raters who were asked to use their facial features to give them a rating of stereotypicality from 1 to 11, where 11 was very stereotypical.

5. Continued... There were 51 raters from Stanford university (32 White, 15 Asian and 4 of other ethnicities), who watched the black and white photographs one at a time for 4 seconds each.

6. Results An analysis of covariance was carried out which allowed the researchers to input many different variables to test for their effect on sentencing decisions such as: Aggravating circumstances. Mitigating circumstances. Severity of the murder. Socioeconomic status of the victims. Defendant and Defendants’ attractiveness.

7. Continued.... Final analysis showed that of all the variables the most significant was that the most stereotypically black 57.5% more likely to receive the death sentence than the less stereotypically black at 22.4% In a second where there was a black defendant and a black victim, the same analysis produced no significant effect, suggesting that a black victim is in some way seen as less important.

8. Discussion Why the difference between the results If the victim is black or white? The authors suggest that it is possible that the jurors see the race of the defendant as a blameworthy factor in the trial. This could be explained by intergroup conflict in the case of a black defendant/ white victim and interpersonal conflict when both defendant and victim are black. Black physical traits are associated with criminality, and in this case it appear that they influence sentencing decisions.

9. Covariance: Where multiple variables are analysed at once to look for relationships between them.