In Legal Arguments, More Gruesome Details Equal Harsher Punishment

In court arguments, the less gruesome the description of a crime, the less likely the punishment will match U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines, according to researchers at Duke University. The team had study participants read vignettes of a perpetrator committing a crime while having their brains scanned by an MRI. The only times the study participants said the crime deserved punishment matching the guidelines was when the description of the crimes elicited strong disgust. Crimes considered less disgusting were judged worthy of significantly less punishment than the recommended guidelines. Read more.