Basic Science Research

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Sex Trafficking & Emotions

The Legal Decision-making lab is currently involved in a program of research to study the way in which people (i.e., lay people, jurors, law enforcement, service providers, and truckers) judge and evaluate sex trafficking survivors and victims. Our goal is to understand the barriers to a survivor centered approach to fighting sex trafficking, one that offers needed services to survivors instead of arresting and prosecuting them for prostitution and other crimes. This approach encourages survivors to join forces with the law enforcement to investigate trafficking crimes and to prosecute traffickers to the fullest extent of the law. Publications that have resulted from the program of research include:

  1. Wiener, R. L., Berry, M. C., Wertheimer, J., Petty, T., & Martinez, J. (2021). The public’s judgment of sex trafficked women: Blaming the victim?. Journal of experimental psychology: applied, 27(3), 529-545. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000352
  2. Petty, T., & Wiener, R. L. (2024). He's to blame, she is lying: Judgments of child sex trafficking survivors. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. DOI: 10.1111/asap.12387
  3. Wiener, R. L., Petty, T. E., Berry-Cohen, M., & Wertheimer-Meier, J. (2024). Judgments of sex trafficked women: The role of emotions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000511
  4. Wiener, R.L., Wiener, S.M., Haselow, R. McBride, B. & Sircy, K. (in press). Emotion regulation reduces victim blaming of vulnerable sex trafficking survivors. Law and Human Behavior.

Confessions

Rachel Haselow and Dr. Wiener have conducted a line of research on false confessions. This research project tested whether emotions and interrogation characteristics, gleaned from case law, affect perceptions of confession truthfulness and voluntariness. Results indicated that the presence or absence of interrogation threats, legal counsel during the interrogation, and Miranda rights notifications influenced perceptions of truthfulness and voluntariness depending upon the manipulated emotions experienced by the research participants. Furthermore, the accuracy level, or extent to which the participants paid attention to the case facts, influenced their perceptions of confession truthfulness and voluntariness. For example, it was only when participants paid suboptimal attention, did they find the confession to be more truthful when police made threats to the defendant. Rachel and Dr. Wiener will be extending this work by attempting to train potential jurors on how to regulate their emotions so that they are more likely to rely on case facts when judging a confession. 

  1. Haselow, R.A. & Wiener, R.L., (In Preparation) Emotion and Interrogation Characteristics as Predictors of False Confession Detection. Manuscript in Preparation.  

Domestic Violence

Daniella Cluver and Dr. Wiener have extended previous work on emotion regulation and legal judgment outcomes to investigate how specific emotions (contempt, anger, and disgust) influence punishment and other legal outcomes in domestic violence cases and how emotion regulation techniques might impact those relationships for third-party decision-makers. The researchers trained and randomly assigned participants to a series of five different emotion regulation techniques and then exposed participants to a victim impact statement, which is a widely used and important tool in the criminal justice process that heavily influences sentencing decisions due to its highly emotional content. Finally, participants answered judgment questions about punishment for the offender, victim blame, and service recommendations for the victim. 

Results indicated that those trained to use a series of emotion regulation techniques (specifically Cognitive Reappraisal and Motivation) experienced reduced negative emotions, lowering feelings of disgust and contempt, which in turn predicted lower offender punishment. However, this also increased victim blaming and predicted less service provision for the victim. Daniella and Dr. Wiener will continue this line of research, investigating the roles of negative affect in interpreting domestic violence-related stimuli by blocking the experience of that impact through emotion regulation. They will also extend it to include empathy as an emotion regulation technique.

  1. Cluver, D., & Wiener, R. L., (In Preparation). Regulating Emotions in the Courtroom: The Influence of Emotion Regulation on Punishment and Victim Blame in Domestic Violence Cases. Manuscript in Preparation.

 

Procedural Justice and Problem-Solving Courts

The Legal Decision-making lab investigates procedural justice in problem-solving courts (e.g., drug court, mental health court) across multiple projects. Since 2019, we have collected and analyzed data capturing previous police experiences and how those experiences influence later perceptions of justice in problem solving courts. The aim of this research is to identify the differences in experience and perception across racial identities. Additionally, our lab provided the only student researcher aiding the Nebraska Supreme Court's Committee on Problem-Solving Courts as they updated the Nebraska DUI and Adult Drug Court Standards, as well as assisting a workgroup investigating alternatives to the current method of using volunteer judges to preside in Nebraska's problem-solving courts. Lastly, our lab guided Sarpy County officials in the creation of their first-ever Wellness Court and provided an analysis of their first year in operation.

1. PROCEDURAL JUSTICE AND PROBLEM-SOLVING COURTS. E.B. McBride, BA/BS, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Richard L. Wiener, PhD, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Presented at the American Psychology and Law Conference in Denver 2022.

Recent Law and Psychology Publications

The follow is a list of recent publications in Law and Psychology from members of our lab. Each publication was proceeded by a presentation and/or symposium at the American Psychology and Law Association, the Society for the Study of Social Psychology, or the Law and Society Association. The presentations involved graduate student and faculty presenters.

  • Petty, T., & Wiener, R. L. (2024). He's to blame, she is lying: Judgments of child sex trafficking survivors. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. DOI: 10.1111/asap.1238
  • Wiener, R. L., Petty, T. E., Berry-Cohen, M., & Wertheimer-Meier, J. (2024). Judgments of sex trafficked women: The role of emotions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000511
  • Wiener, R.L., Wiener, S.M., Haselow, R. McBride, B. & Sircy, K. (in press). Emotion regulation reduces victim blaming of vulnerable sex trafficking survivors. Law and Human Behavior.
  • Holloway, C. P., & Wiener, R. L. (2023). Incorporating emotion into cue-based political judgment modeling. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 29(1), 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000330
  • Wiener, R. L., Vardsveen, T. C., & Petty, T. (2023). Do they see what he experiences? Objectification and sexual harassment. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.  https://doi-org.libproxy.unl.edu/10.1111/asap.12354
  • Vardsveen, T. C., & Wiener, R. L. (2022). What’s reasonable? An experimental test of the reasonable officer standard. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 28, 573-594. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000361
  • Wiener, R. L., Berry, M. C., Wertheimer, J., Petty, T., & Martinez, J. (2021). The public’s judgment of sex trafficked women: Blaming the victim?. Journal of experimental psychology: applied, 27(3), 529-545. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000352
  • Holloway, C.P. & Wiener, R.L. (2021). Affective forecasting and ex-offender hiring decisions.  Motivation and Emotion, 45, 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-021-09885-3 
  • Holloway, C. P., & Wiener, R. L. (2023). Incorporating emotion into cue-based political judgment modeling. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 29(1), 125-143. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000330
  • Vardsveen, T. C., & Wiener, R. L. (2021). Public support for sentencing reform: A policy-capturing experiment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 27, 430 – 446, https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000339
  • Holloway, C. P., & Wiener, R. L. (2020). Criminal history, sex, and employment: Sex differences in ex‐Offender hiring stigma. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 20, 211-229. doi.org/10.1111/asap.12192
  • Petty, T. & Wiener, R.L. (2019). The influence of offender race, risk level, and participant emotion on juvenile probation case judgements. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 19, 476-503.
  • Wiener, R. L., & Vardsveen, T. C. (2018). The objective prong in sexual harassment: What is the standard?. Law and Human Behavior, 42, 545 – 557. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000301
  • Holloway, C. P., & Wiener, R. L. (2018). Abuse history and culpability judgments: Implications for battered spouse syndrome. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 24, 279 -291. doi.org/10.1037/law0000167
  • Jimenez, A. C., Delgado, R. H., Vardsveen, T. C., & Wiener, R. L. (2018). Validation and Application of the LS/CMI in Nebraska Probation. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45, 863-884. doi.org/10.1177/0093854818763231