How make-up can influence court verdicts

WEARING make-up is beneficial for middle-aged women appearing before a jury in court – but detrimental for younger defendants.

A new study has found that younger women who get glammed up for court could be putting themselves at greater risk of being found guilty.

The study, in the journal Cosmetics, is the first to examine the influence of make-up on jury verdicts.

The study was led by psychologist Dr Carlota Batres, formerly of the University of St Andrews, Fife, and now Assistant Professor of Psychology at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania.

It found that, regardless of make-up use, jurors were more likely to assign guilty verdicts to middle-aged women than to young women.

By wearing make-up, young defendants could appear older than they were and put themselves at a disadvantage.

Male participants gave young women in make-up longer sentences while middle-aged women in make-up received shorter sentences, when compared to the same faces without make-up.

Dr Batres said: ‘Older defendants may be attributed with more responsibility over their actions.’