Observers’ reactions to victim impact statements
| DOI | 10.1177/0269758015610851 |
| Author | Kim ME Lens,Esmah Lahlah,Antony Pemberton,Janne van Doorn,Stefan Bogaerts |
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| Published date | 01 January 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Observers’ reactions
to victim impact
statements: A preliminary
study into the affective
and cognitive responses
Kim ME Lens
INTERVICT, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Janne van Doorn
INTERVICT, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Esmah Lahlah
INTERVICT, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Antony Pemberton
INTERVICT, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Stefan Bogaerts
Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Abstract
Previous research has shown that expectancy violations can have both affective and cognitive
consequences. In particular, recent victimological research argues that people’s perceptions and
judgments of victims are negatively influenced when their expectations of the victim’s emotional
behavior are violated. That is, expectancy violation may lead to secondary victimization: victims may
be judged to be less credible, suffer higher levels of victim derogation, and receive less sympathy as
a result of expectancy violation. In this study, we elaborate upon these affective consequences and
examine possible cognitive consequences of expectancy violation in victimological research. We
found preliminary evidence for secondary victimization in both affective and cognitive domains:
when evaluated by student observers, victims of ‘mildly’ severe crimes who delivered an emotional
Corresponding author:
Kim ME Lens, INTERVICT, Tilburg University, Room M634, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Email: k.m.e.lens@tilburguniversity.edu
International Review of Victimology
2016, Vol. 22(1) 45–53
ªThe Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0269758015610851
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