Integrating States, Traits, and a Dual-process Approach with Criminal Decision-making Literature: Theoretical and Methodological Advancements
When assessing what factors promote or deter criminal behavior, theories have primarily focused on: 1) distal, individual differences or 2) proximal, decision-making factors about perceived costs and benefits. By remaining independent, each approach limits its explanatory power. Methodologically, one of the primary ways of assessing criminal decision-making in the psychological literature is the written vignette approach. However, hypothetical scenarios may not accurately represent the circumstances under which people make real-life decisions, creating a potential intention-behavior gap. Furthermore, researchers tend to use closed-ended questions that assess factors that are deemed relevant to criminal decision-making, rather than allowing participants to naturally recall factors they themselves deemed important to their decision-making. Collectively, these limitations reduce the ecological validity of theories derived from such studies. Through a series of observational and experimental studies, this doctoral thesis advances the literature by integrating psychological and criminological theory. I align proximal with dual-process decision-making perspectives by including determinants such as emotions and norms and combine it with important individual differences. This thesis also offers novel methodological advancements by contrasting vignettes against immersive virtual reality and closed vs. open-ended responses. Using a large-scale survey, I first established a relationship between trait self-control, a dual-process model of decision-making, and criminal behavior. The results of which indicated that intuitive decision-making (traditionally unmodelled) is associated with criminal behavior (Chapter Two; McClanahan et al., 2019). Secondly, using a standard experimental ego-depletion task, I sought to examine how state self-control directly and indirectly influenced criminal behavior. Although participants were successfully depleted, there was no main effect of ego-depletion on criminal behavior. However, while perceived risk, a central tenant of the rational model, predicted criminal behavior for non-depleted participants, it did not predict criminal behavior for depleted participants (Chapter Three; McClanahan & van der Linden, 2020). Finally in a series of studies comparing virtual reality and video presentation of a vignette to traditional written methods, I examined how immersion, rather than imagination, influenced criminal behavior when self-control was depleted and what factors individuals naturally consider when making decisions around criminal behavior. Replicating the findings of Chapter Three, compared to control groups, depleted participants were no more likely to indicate criminal behavior when using virtual reality (Chapter Four), nor was there a difference in criminal behavior when compared to the traditional written method (Chapter Four) or videos (Chapter Five). Participants that either saw a video or experienced the vignette in virtual reality indicated a significantly greater subjective presence than participants that read the same vignette (Chapter Four and Five). Additionally, while participants naturally consider factors that align with traditional proximal theories (e.g., getting arrested), they also naturally consider a number of factors that do not fit within such a perspective, such as state affect and norms which were better predictors of criminal behavior (Chapter Five). Theoretical and methodological implications for research and policy are discussed.
psychology, criminology, self-control, decision-making, vignettes, Virtual Reality, Emotions
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