Evelyn Maeder

Research Interests

• Discrimination in the law
• The influence of race/racialization, gender, and other extralegal information on juror and jury decision-making
• The Not Criminally Responsible by Reason of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) defence – effects of education, attitudes toward mental illness, and punishment orientation on jurors’ decisions
• Lay conceptions of punishment

Dr. Maeder’s scholarship explores social psychological principles in the criminal legal system. Her research projects include investigating jury racial composition on deliberations and decisions in trials involving racialized accused, examining the efficacy of jury instructions, identifying sources of bias in NCRMD (Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder) trials, and determining the reasons that people punish. With training in law and psychology, her work scrutinizes the interplay of systemic and individual factors in perpetuating discrimination in the legal system.

She is the director of the Legal Decision-Making Lab at Carleton, and a member of the Data Justice Lab. Her work has been funded by SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada), APLS (American Psychology-Law Society), and CBA (Canadian Bar Association).

Recent Publications

Roberts, A., & Maeder, E.M. (2023). The intersection of defendant gender and racialization in a case of child neglect. Psychology, Crime, and Law.

Ewanation, E., & Maeder, E.M. (2023). Let’s (not) talk about race: Comparing mock jurors’ verdicts and deliberation content in a case of lethal police use of force with a White or Indigenous victim. Psychology, Crime, and Law.

Maeder, E.M., Yamamoto, S., & Ewanation, L. (2023). Quality-checking the new normal: Trial modality in online jury decision-making research. Journal of Experimental Criminology.  

Ewanation, L., & Maeder, E.M. (2023). The influence of race on mock jurors’ perceptions of lethal police use of force. Law and Human Behavior, 47, 53-67.

Yamamoto, S., Maeder, E.M., & Bailey, L. (2023). Moral emotions and mock jurors’ verdict justifications. Journal of Social Psychology. 

Ewanation, L., Maeder, E.M., & Yamamoto, S. (2022). Mock juror decision-making in a self-defence trial involving police use of force. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 54, 19-27.

Maeder, E.M., & McManus, L. (2022).  Mosaic or melting pot?: Race and juror decision-making in Canada and the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37, 991-1012.

Ewanation, L., & Maeder, E.M. (2021). The interactive effects of race and expert testimony on jurors’ perceptions of recanted confessions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 699077.

Yamamoto, S., & Maeder, E.M. (2021).  What’s in the box?: Punishment and insanity in the Canadian jury deliberation room.  Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 2442.

Maeder, E.M., Yamamoto, S., & McLaughlin, K. (2020).  The influence of defendant race and mental disorder type on mock juror decision-making in insanity defence trials.  International Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 68, 101536.

Maeder, E.M., & Yamamoto, S. (2019).  Social Identity Theory in the Canadian courtroom:  Effects of juror and defendant race. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 61, 24-44.

Yamamoto, S., Maeder, E.M., Mossiere, A., & Brown, D. (2019).  The influence of defendant body size and defendant gender on mock juror decision-making. Cogent Psychology, 6, 1674091.

Yamamoto, S., & Maeder, E.M. (2019). Creating and validating a measure of punishment orientation.  Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45, 1283-1294.

Maeder, E.M., & Yamamoto, S. (2019).  Investigating race salience, defendant race, and victim race on juror decision-making in Canada.  Justice Quarterly, 36 (5), 929-953.

Maeder, E.M., & Ewanation, L. (2018).  What makes race salient?: Juror decision-making in same-race vs. cross-race identification scenarios and the influence of expert testimony.  Criminal Justice and Behavior, 45(8), 1234-1251.

Ewanation, L., & Maeder, E.M. (2018).  The influence of eyewitness intoxication, eyewitness race, and defendant race on mock juror decision-making. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 60, 505-536.

Mossiere, A., Maeder, E.M., & Pica, E. (2018).  Racial composition of couples in battered spouse syndrome cases: A look at juror perceptions and decisions.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(18), 2867-2890.

Maeder, E.M., Yamamoto, S., & McManus, L.A. (2018).  Methodology matters: Comparing sample types and data collection methods in a juror decision-making study on the influence of defendant race.  Psychology, Crime, and Law, 24, 687-702.

McManus, L., Maeder, E.M., & Yamamoto, S. (2018).  The role of defendant race and racially charged media in Canadian mock juror decision making. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 60(2), 266-295.

Maeder, E.M., McManus, L., Yamamoto, S., & McLaughlin, K. (2018).  A test of gender-crime congruency on mock juror decision-making. Cogent Psychology, 5(1), 1461543.