Jessica M. Salerno is an Associate Professor in the Social and Behavioral Sciences division of the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University and an affiliate faculty member in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. She is a founding member of the ASU program on law and behavioral science and a fellow of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology and the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics. She is the Director of the PhD Program in Law & Psychology. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Middlebury College in 2003 and her doctorate in social psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012.
Salerno’s research interests include several lines of inquiry that apply social psychological theory and experimentation to legal contexts. For example, she investigates (a) the effect of emotion and intergroup dynamics in legal decision making, (b) how moral outrage drives biases against stigmatized groups in ambiguous legal contexts, and (c) how jurors evaluate the quality of scientific evidence presented by expert witnesses in court. She also explores how these decision-making processes might differ for individuals versus groups. For example, she investigates how extra-legal factors influence both individual jurors’ and juries’ decisions, with a strong emphasis on the group deliberation process.
Salerno's work has been published in empirical journals and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, the American Psychology-Law Society, the American Bar Foundation, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She serves on the editorial board for Law and Human Behavior, and Psychology, Public Policy, & Law. She has won several research awards, including the New College for Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Outstanding Research Award, the Association for Psychological Science's Rising Star designation, and the American Psychology-Law Society's Saleem Shah Early Career Award.
- Ph.D. Social Psychology, University of Illinois-Chicago 2012
- B.A. Psychology, Middlebury College 2003
*Denotes student author
Salerno, J. M., *Kulak, K., Smalarz, L. A., *Eerdmans, R. E., *Lawrence, M. L., & **Dao, Tramanh. (in press). The impact of establishing non-Racist credentials on mock juror decisions about Black defendants. Law and Human Behavior.
Growns, B., *Towler, A., *Dunn, J.D., Salerno, J.M., Schweitzer, N. J., Dror. I.E. (2022). Statistical-feature training improves fingerprint-matching accuracy in novices and professional fingerprint examiners. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 7: 60.
Salerno, J. M., & Slepian, M. L. (2022). Morality, punishment, and revealing other people’s secrets. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(4), 606–633.
Growns, B., Mattijssen, E. J. A. T., Salerno, J. M., Schweitzer, N. J., Cole, S. A., & Martire, K. A. (2022). Finding the perfect match: Fingerprint expertise facilitates statistical learning and visual comparison decision-making. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. Advance online publication.
*Phalen, H. J., Salerno, J. M., & Schweitzer, N. J. (2021). Can neuroimaging prove pain and suffering?: The influence of pain assessment techniques on legal judgments of physical versus emotional pain. Law and Human Behavior, 45, 393.
Salerno, J. M., Campbell, J. C., *Phalen, H. J., *Bean, S. R., Hans, V., Spivak, D., & Ross, L. (2021). The impact of minimal versus extended voir dire and judicial rehabilitation on mock jurors’ decisions in civil cases. Law and Human Behavior, 45, 336.
Salerno, J. M. (2021). Emotion and legal fact finding. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 17, 181-203.
Salerno, J. M., & *Sanchez, M. J. (2020). Subjective interpretation of “objective” video evidence: Perceptions of male versus female police officers’ use of force. Law and Human Behavior, 44, 97-112.
McDonald, R. I., Salerno, J. M., Greenaway, K. H., & Slepian, M. L. (2020). Motivated secrecy: Politics, relationships, and regrets. Motivation Science, 6, 61-78.
*Caraveo-Parra, D., Fradella, H. F., Salerno, J., & Telep, C. W. (2019). Does homophobia affect prosecutorial discretion in ambiguous statutory rape cases? Willamette Social Justice and Equity Journal, 3, 1–50.
Salerno, J. M., & *Phalen, H. J. (2019). Traditional gender roles and backlash against female attorneys expressing anger in court. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, 909-932.
Salerno, J. M., Peter-Hagene, L. C., & *Jay, A. (2019). Women and African Americans lose influence when they express anger during group decision making. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 3, 336.
*Jay, A., Salerno, J. M., & *Ross, R. (2018). When hurt heroes do harm: Collective guilt and leniency toward war-veteran transgressors. Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 25, 32-58.
Salerno, J. M.,
*Phalen, H., & **Reyes, R., & Schweitzer, N. J. (2018). Closing with emotion: The differential impact of male versus female attorneys expressing anger in court. Law and Human Behavior, 42, 385-401.
Salerno JM, Bottoms BL, Peter-Hagene LC (2017) Individual versus group decision making: Jurors’ reliance on central and peripheral information to evaluate expert testimony. PLoS ONE 12: e0183580.
Salerno, J. M. (2017). Seeing red: Disgust drives the differential effect of color versus black and white gruesome photographs on legal judgments. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 23, 336-350.
*Altholz, R., & Salerno, J. M. (2016). Do people perceive juvenile sex offenders who are gay and Christian as hypocrites? The effect of shared and dual identity defendants. Journal of Aggression, Conflict, and Peace Research, 8, 226-237.
Salerno, J. M., & *Peter-Hagene, L. C. (2015). One angry woman: Anger expression increases influence for men, but decreases influence for women. Law and Human Behavior 39, 581-592.
Salerno, J. M., Najdowski, C. J., Bottoms, B. L., Harrington, E., **Kemner, G., & **Dave, R. (2015). Excusing murder? Conservative jurors' acceptance of the "gay panic" defense. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 21, 24- 34.
Stevenson, M. C., Najdowski, C. N., Salerno, J. M., Wiley, T. R. A., Bottoms, B. L., **Sorenson, K. M. (2015). The influence of a juvenile's abuse history on support for sex offender registration. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 21, 35-49.
Salerno, J. M., Murphy, M. C., & Bottoms, B. L. (2014). Give the kid a break—But only if he’s straight: Retributive motives drive biases against gay youth in ambiguous punishment contexts. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 20, 398-410.
Salerno, J. M., & *Peter-Hagene, L. C. (2013). The interactive effect of anger and disgust in moral outrage and judgments. Psychological Science, 24, 2069-2078.
Haegerich, T. M., Salerno, J. M., & Bottoms, B. L. (2013). Are the effects of juvenile offender stereotypes maximized or minimized by jury deliberation? Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 19, 81-97.
Nysse-Carris, K. L., Bottoms, B. L., & Salerno, J. M. (2011). Experts’ and novices’ abilities to detect deception in children. Psychology, Public Policy & Law, 17, 76-98.
Salerno, J. M., & Diamond, S. S. (2010). The promise of a cognitive perspective on jury decision-making. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17, 174-179.
Courses
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 580 | Practicum |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
2024 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 595 | Continuing Registration |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 580 | Practicum |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 592 | Research |
2023 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 545 | Advanced Legal Psychology |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 580 | Practicum |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
2022 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 545 | Advanced Legal Psychology |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 580 | Practicum |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 545 | Advanced Legal Psychology |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
2021 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 368 | Forensic Psychology |
| PSY 368 | Forensic Psychology |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 580 | Practicum |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 550 | Advanced Social Psychology |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 593 | Applied Project |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
2020 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 368 | Forensic Psychology |
| PSY 368 | Forensic Psychology |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
| PSY 468 | Psychology and Law |
- *Martin, J. D., & Salerno, J. M. Minority influence during jury deliberation: Differential information processing of Black versus White holdout jurors’ arguments. American Psychology-Law Society Conference (Mar 2014).
- Salerno, JM. The emotional side of juror and jury decision making. Social Psychology Seminar Series, University of Iowa (Nov 2013).
- Salerno, JM., & Peter-Hagene, CL. How gender, race, and emotion expression affect holdout jurors’influence during jury deliberatio. annual meeting of the Law and Society Association (Jun 2013).
- Salerno, JM & Peter-Hagene, CL. Incidental-but not integral-emotional evidence moderates the effect of defendant race on guilt judgment. American Psychology-Law Society (Mar 2013).
- Salerno, J. M., & Stevenson, M. C. Counterintuitive race effects in legal decision making: Unexpected leniency toward African American defendant. Annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society (Mar 2013).
- Salerno, J. M., & Stevenson, M. C. Counterintuitive race effects in legal decision making: Unexpected leniency toward African American defendant. Annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society (Mar 2013).
- Salerno, J. M., & Peter-Hagene, C. L. Incidental-but not integral-emotional evidence moderates the effect of defendant race on guilt judgment. Annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society (Feb 2013).
- Salerno, J. M., *Peter-Hagene, C. L. & Lytle, B. How gender, race, and emotion expression affect holdout jurors’ influence during jury deliberation. Annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Feb 2013).
- Salerno, JM., Peter-Hagene, CL, & Lytle, B. One angry woman: Emotion expression minority influence in a jury deliberation context. Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting (Jan 2013).
- Salerno, J. M., Lytle, B., & Cunningham, J. Emotion and jury deliberation: Does expressing emotion make stereotyped holdout jurors more or less persuasive?. Annual meeting of Law and Society Association (Jun 2012).
- Salerno, J. M., Bottoms, B. L., & Peter-Hagene, C. L. Peripheral arguments can sometimes help juries evaluate expert witness quality. Annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society (Mar 2012).
- Peter-Hagene, C. L. & Salerno, J. M. The interactive effect of anger and disgust on moral outrage and jurors' verdicts. Annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society (Mar 2012).
- Salerno, J. M., Murphy, M. C., & Bottoms, B. L. Give the kid a break-But only if he’s straight: Moral outrage drives biases in juvenile sex offender punishment decisions. Annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Feb 2012).
- Teaching and Training Committee, American Psychology-Law Society, Committee Member (2014 - 2017)
- Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, Editorial Board Member (2015 - 2016)
- Minority Affairs Committee, American Psychology-Law Society, Committee Member (2012 - 2015)
- Barrett Honors College West, Faculty Honors Psychology Adviser (2015 - 2015)
- Psi Chi, Faculty Advisor (2013 - 2015)
- ASU Residential Colleges, Faculty in Residence (2013 - 2015)
- Psychology Assistant Professor Search, Search Committee Member (2014 - 2015)
- Law and Human Behavior (Journal), Editorial Board (2014 - 2015)
- Subject Pool - Psychology Department, Subject Pool Coordinator (2013 - 2015)
- American Psychology-Law Society, Conference Submission Reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- American Psychology-Law Society, Diversity Travel Award Judge (2014 - 2014)
- Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Ad Hoc Reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Cognition & Emotion, Ad Hoc Reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Ad hoc reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Psychology, Crime, & Law, Ad hoc reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, Ad hoc reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, Conference Paper Reviewer (2014 - 2014)
- Minority Affairs Committee, American Psychology-Law Society, Committee Member (2012 - 2014)
- ASU Residential Colleges, Faculty in Residence (2013 - 2014)
- Psi Chi, Faculty Advisor (2013 - 2014)
- Subject Pool - Psychology Department, Subject Pool Coordinator (2013 - 2014)
- NCUIRE Awards, Judge (2014 - 2014)
- Psychology Lecturer Search, Search Committee Member (2014 - 2014)
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Poster Award Judge (2014 - 2014)
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology Mentor Luncheon, Mentor (2014 - 2014)
- American Psychology-Law Society, Diversity Travel Award Judge (2013 - 2013)
- Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Behavioral Decision Making, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Law and Human Behavior, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Legal and Criminological Psychology, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Psychology, Crime, & Law, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- American Psychology-Law Society, Diversity Travel Award Judge (2013 - 2013)
- Behavioral Decision Making, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Law and Human Behavior, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Poster Award Judge (2013 - 2013)
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology Mentor Luncheon, Mentor (2013 - 2013)
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Ad hoc reviewer (2013 - 2013)
- Law and Human Behavior, Ad hoc reviewer (2012 - 2012)
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Ad hoc reviewer (2012 - 2012)
- Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Ad hoc reviewer (2012 - 2012)
- Psychology, Crime, & Law, Ad hoc reviewer (2012 - 2012)