The Effect of Red Attire on Sentencing in Criminal Cases

The present study attempts to understand if there is a bias towards a specific color of jumpsuit worn by criminal defendants; precisely, if red, when worn by violent criminals, convinces a jury of their guilt before the trial is over. Participants (N = 822) were assigned to one of six conditions in a 3 (color of jumpsuit: red, black, white) × 2 (gender: male and female) factorial design where they read a criminal case and were asked to provide a recommended sentence. Participants also completed the Belief in Just World Scale (BJW) and the Revised Legal Attitudes Questionnaire (RLAQ). Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that jurors would recommend the harshest sentence when a male defendant is wearing a red jumpsuit. Results indicated that female defendants received significantly lower recommended sentences than male defendants in each of the conditions. Female defendants in red prison attire received significantly lower recommended sentences than female defendants in each of the other conditions. As expected, higher BJW and RLAQ scores were associated with longer sentences in each of the conditions. Implications for further research are discussed.