A study of auxiliary factors for judges in sentencing dangerous driving offenses - the mediating role of favorable and unfavorable factors

Chengjie Liu; Ziyu Miao; Ting Wang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1202518

A study of auxiliary factors for judges in sentencing dangerous driving offenses - the mediating role of favorable and unfavorable factors

Front Psychol. 2023 Sep 19:14:1202518. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1202518. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chengjie Liu¹, Ziyu Miao², Ting Wang³

Affiliations

¹ School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China.
² The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
³ School of Law, New York University, New York, NY, United States.

Abstract

This paper investigates the ancillary factors judges consider when sentencing dangerous driving offenses. These factors are divided into favorable (i.e., "Confess" [CF], and "Actively compensate and obtain forgiveness from victims" [AC]) and unfavorable categories (i.e., "Mainly or solely responsible for the accident" [MSR], and "Post-accident behavior" [BAA]). Results indicate that both types of factors mediate the relationship between "Blood Alcohol Concentration" (BAC) and the sentencing outcome: favorable factors have a significant negative correlation with sentences, while unfavorable ones show a positive correlation. The mediation effect ratios are 13.8% and 19.1% respectively, with no significant differences between their impacts on judges' sentencing decisions.

Keywords: auxiliary factors; dangerous driving offenses; mediation; psychological tendencies; sentencing.