My PhD will be investigating how a survivor’s testimony influences juror decision-making in heteronormative sexual assault cases. Specifically, I will be looking at how this testimony can activate certain schemas and stereotypes related to both rape and consensual sex, and how this may bias a juror’s subsequent verdict. With this research I hope to develop a format of providing testimony, in which salient schemas and stereotypes can be used to benefit the prosecution rather than hinder them. This research has stemmed from the findings of my honours thesis which I undertook in 2017 in conjunction with the Applied Social Psychology Lab.
More broadly, my interests lie in everything related to social psychology, such as the effects schemas have on impression formation and decision-making in general, as well as any research which is related to both law/criminal justice and sexism. I have personally been involved in research for the Safe Schoolies Project since 2016, which investigates the perceptions of risk held by high school graduates celebrating their milestone on the Gold Coast.