Disclosiveness, willingness to communicate, and communication apprehension as predictors of jury selection in felony trials

Real jurors in actual felony trials completed a set of personality questionnaires including measures of Disclosiveness, Willingness to Communicate, and Communication Apprehension subscales for Friend and Meeting. Empaneled and excused jurors were examined for individual differences. As predicted, empaneled jurors had significantly higher disclosiveness scores, particularly with respect to positive disclosiveness, than excused jurors. Understanding communication traits significantly improves one's ability to predict jury selection. Jury selection appears to be partially a function of personality, rather than just a function of case relevant variables. This has important ramifications for establishing whether juries are fair cross representations of their communities.

Key concepts:

• Jury selection
• disclosiveness
• willingness to communicate
• communication apprehension