The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis

Harper, CA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3172-0129 and Bartels, RM, 2017. The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 23 (2), pp. 139-150. ISSN 1355-2600

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Abstract

The psychological factors underpinning responses to sexual offenders are beginning to receive increased empirical scrutiny. One such factor is offender representativeness, which refers to the extent to which a given offender example matches a stereotype of those who are typically labelled as 'sexual offenders'. Using a sample of 252 community members, we examined the role of implicit theories about sexual offenders (i.e., whether sexual offending is seen as fixed or malleable) in mediating the relationship between affective responses to sexual offenders and policy outcome judgements. We found support for this mediating effect, although this was eliminated when participants were presented with a 'non-representative' offender vignette. We argue that the relationship between affective responses and policy judgements is contingent on the activation of a sexual offender stereotype, and that this link can be disrupted via the increased presentation of non-stereotypical case examples. Implications for public debate and professional practice are discussed.

Item Type:	Journal article
Alternative Title:	Judgements of sexual offenders [running head]
Publication Title:	Journal of Sexual Aggression
Creators:	Harper, C.A. and Bartels, R.M.
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Date:	2017
Volume:	23
Number:	2
ISSN:	1355-2600
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/13552600.2016.1250963 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	19 Oct 2016 10:51
Last Modified:	04 Jan 2019 14:22
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28885

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