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Money, Sex, and Death: Gender Bias in Wrongful Death Damage Awards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Jane Goodman ,
Elizabeth F. Loftus ,
Marian Miller  and
Edith Greene
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Abstract

Civil damage awards in wrongful death cases and experimental data from jury simulations reveal that male decedents are typically awarded substantially higher monetary damages than are similarly situated female decedents. These differences in treatment may arise because female decedents are perceived as worth less, female survivors are perceived as more needy, and/or male decedents are perceived to have a longer lost income stream than any female decedents. Mock jurors received written summaries of wrongful death cases stipulating to the liability of the defendant. They were asked to award an appropriate sum in damages and about the factors they considered in making these awards. Male decedents received higher awards in two separate studies. While mock jurors were sensitive to the perceived needs of the surviving spouse, the disparity in awards was primarily attributable to differences in the estimated lost income of the male and female decedents.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , 1991 , pp. 263 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 by The Law and Society Association

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Footnotes

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation Law and Social Science Program (grant no. SES-8800603). Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Science Foundation. The authors are grateful to the King County (Washington) Court Administration for assistance in securing the participation of jurors at the courthouse, and to the Washington State Ferry System for assistance in gathering data from ferry commuters. Data collection and coding was accomplished with the help of Marcus Bastida, Angie Galvan, Marian Lee, Cynthia Martinez, Rodie O'Loave, and Patty Rognlin.

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