Project on Law and Mind Sciences Launches
Jeff Dubner
Issue date: 3/15/07 Section: News
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On Saturday, Harvard Law hosted the launch of a new initiative uniting legal scholars and social psychologists as the Project on Law and Mind Sciences (PLMS) held its first conference. PLMS seeks to apply the findings of social science to legal processes, bringing into the law a human element that many find lacking from the dominant analytical approaches.
The new organization is the brainchild of Professor Jon Hanson, who has argued that legal institutions should be informed by a "situationist" account of human behavior that acknowledges the countless influences that shape individual preferences and undermine the "dispositionist" model of law and economics. "The conception of the human being that we have in law," Hanson believes, "is not accurate." Through the conference, future events, and the Project's blog, The Situationist, and website (both accessible at www.lawandmind.com and both co-founded by Professor Michael McCann of Mississippi College School of Law), PLMS hopes to make that conception more realistic.
The conference featured presentations by several leading social psychologists and responses from members of the Harvard Law faculty. The speakers' research explored various components of how individuals form impressions and opinions. Princeton's John Darley began the conference by describing how judgments of what constitutes justice are in many cases "intuitive products," rather than carefully reasoned assessments. These intuitive conclusions often prevail over the slower, more deliberative reasoned judgments. "These judgments are based on a just-deserts reaction rather than a legislative, deterrence reaction," Darley has found.
Darley argued that the legal code should in many regards model this aspect of public morality, as a way of encouraging respect for and compliance with the law. Similarly, his co-panelist Tom Tyler, of NYU, argued that legitimacy and morality are more important factors than fear of sanction in encouraging law-abiding behavior. "Deterrence has a very small effect on compliance with the law," according to Tyler. Tyler's research in corporate governance and military practice support this notion that increasing the appearance of fair decision-making processes can contribute to an effective system of laws, perhaps more so than severe punishment.
The new organization is the brainchild of Professor Jon Hanson, who has argued that legal institutions should be informed by a "situationist" account of human behavior that acknowledges the countless influences that shape individual preferences and undermine the "dispositionist" model of law and economics. "The conception of the human being that we have in law," Hanson believes, "is not accurate." Through the conference, future events, and the Project's blog, The Situationist, and website (both accessible at www.lawandmind.com and both co-founded by Professor Michael McCann of Mississippi College School of Law), PLMS hopes to make that conception more realistic.
The conference featured presentations by several leading social psychologists and responses from members of the Harvard Law faculty. The speakers' research explored various components of how individuals form impressions and opinions. Princeton's John Darley began the conference by describing how judgments of what constitutes justice are in many cases "intuitive products," rather than carefully reasoned assessments. These intuitive conclusions often prevail over the slower, more deliberative reasoned judgments. "These judgments are based on a just-deserts reaction rather than a legislative, deterrence reaction," Darley has found.
Darley argued that the legal code should in many regards model this aspect of public morality, as a way of encouraging respect for and compliance with the law. Similarly, his co-panelist Tom Tyler, of NYU, argued that legitimacy and morality are more important factors than fear of sanction in encouraging law-abiding behavior. "Deterrence has a very small effect on compliance with the law," according to Tyler. Tyler's research in corporate governance and military practice support this notion that increasing the appearance of fair decision-making processes can contribute to an effective system of laws, perhaps more so than severe punishment.
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