RACE, SEX, VOCAL CHARACTERISTICS AND EMOTION AFFECT TRUST OF AUDITORY WITNESS TESTIMONY

Abstract

Trust is valuable as it plays a vital role in first impressions and decision-making. However, trust perceptions of speakers are heavily influenced by stereotypes and biases. Given how impactful eyewitness testimonies are in courtroom rulings and how often biases are used to judge speakers in courtroom settings, it is crucial to understand what factors impact perceptions of trust within this context. This is the first study to analyze the relationship between trust perception and emotion (Anger, Fear, Happy, Sad, Disgust, and Neutral) within the context of a courtroom testimony while also looking at how race, sex, vocal characteristics of the speaker, and intensity (gun-present vs. gun-absent crime) impact this interaction. Participants listened to a random sample of voices saying, "That is exactly what happened" and then responded yes or no when asked if they trusted the speaker. We found a highly significant interaction between sex and race on the proportion of voices trusted in select emotions. An in-depth analysis of voice characteristics indicated varying effects of pitch, Cepstral Peak Prominence, Vocal tract length, Subharmonic to harmonic ratio, Speech rate, Long-term Average Spectrum, and Harmonics to Noise Ratio (HNR) on perceptions of trust in male and female speakers. This experiment supports findings that heuristic cues influence the perception of trust in the courtroom. Understanding the role stereotypes and biases play in decision-making in the courtroom is vital to ensuring a fair prosecution.