NCJ Number
146291
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 17 Issue: 6 Dated: (December 1993) Pages: 597-609
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The effectiveness of a persuasion technique referred to as stealing thunder was assessed in two simulated jury trials; stealing thunder was defined as revealing negative information about a client before it was revealed or elicited by another person.
Abstract
The first study employed 1,257 college students enrolled in introductory psychology classes at two large midwestern universities. Students read or heard one of three versions of a criminal assault trial in which a damaging piece of evidence about the defendant was absent (no thunder), brought up by the prosecutor (thunder), or brought up by the defense attorney and repeated by the prosecutor (stolen thunder). In the second study, 148 college students heard a civil negligence trial in which damaging evidence about the key plaintiff's witness was absent (no thunder), brought up by the defendant's attorney (thunder), or brought up by the witness himself (stolen thunder). Both studies revealed that stealing thunder significantly reduced the impact of negative information. Path analysis of processes underlying this effect suggested that verdicts were affected because of enhanced credibility. Limitations of the two studies are noted, and further research is recommended to identify the underlying mechanisms of stealing thunder and its effectiveness. 29 references and 3 figures