Does personality influence reactions to judicial instructions? Some preliminary findings and possible implications

Much has been written about how various demographic and dispositional varia bles affect juridic decisions. Yet, this literature is largely silent with respect to how juror characteristics might influence compliance with legal instructions as juridic decisions are rendered. Here we identify several pe rsonality variables that could influence the likelihood that legal instruct ions will be properly interpreted and applied in courtroom proceedings, How ever, only the dogmatism dimension has been studied systematically in this regard. Juries composed largely of dogmatic (rather than nondogmatic) indiv iduals are influenced more by general substantive and procedural instructio ns defining the relevant points of law or describing the jury's responsibil ities in applying the law, but no such "jury dogmatism" effect has yet been found for compliance with limiting instructions that pertain to specific t estimony. Psychological bases for these findings are explored and possible implications for legal proceedings are discussed.