Evelyn Maeder
Evelyn is a fourth-year law-psychology student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is pursuing her PhD in social psychology and recently received her Master’s in Legal Studies (MLS). Her primary research interests are jury decision-making and discrimination, with particular interests in the effects of race and gender in the trial process. She is also interested in death penalty and affirmative action research. Evelyn received her Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Psychology, with minors in Philsophy and Classics from the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2004.
Some of her main interests include Affirmative Action and Disability and Race.
Affirmative Action: Evelyn is interested in comparing the relative efficacy and accuracy of clinical vs. actuarial models in an affirmative action context. Through its rulings in the 2003 Michigan decisions, the Supreme Court has expressed a preference for clinical models over actuarial models of decision-making. Psychological literature, on the other hand, demonstrates the relative superiority of actuarial decision-making in a number of different contexts. Evelyn’s thesis demonstrated that an actuarial model of affirmative action that still fulfills the compelling state interest of diversity is not only possible, but more efficient and accurate than a traditional clinical model of acceptance decisions at an institution of higher education.
Disability and Race: Evelyn’s dissertation research concerns the area of disability law, and the influence that race might have therein. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) governs cases involving employment discrimination resulting from physical or mental impairments, but it makes no mention of racial discrimination (which is covered separately, by Title VII). Her dissertation will examine whether the race of the plaintiff influences the plaintiff's action in an ADA employment discrimination case, such that disabilities are viewed (and damages awarded) differently by the jurors when race is varied.
Publications
Bornstein, B.H., Wiener, R.L., & Maeder, E. (in press). Pioneers in interdisciplinary legal education: A history of the UNL law-psychology program. In A. Gless (Ed.), The History of Nebraska Law. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
Buchanan, K., & Maeder, E. (2004). Best practices approach in the electronic monitoring of youth. The Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services, 2, 46-52.
Maeder, E. (2004). Psychological and physical benefits of circuit weight training in law enforcement personnel. The Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services, 2, 65-66.
Maeder, E. (2003). Implementing community-oriented policing. The Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services, 1, 53-54.
Maeder, E.M., Laub, C.E., & Bornstein, B.H. (2007). The influence of a psychology and law class on legal attitudes and knowledge structures. Online publication available at http://www.usd.edu/gpctop/Submissions2007/Maeder2007.pdf
Maeder, E.M., Wiener, R.L., & Winter, R. (2005). Does a truck driver see what a nurse sees?: The effects of occupation type on perceptions of sexual harassment. Sex Roles, 12, 801-810.
Manuscripts Under Review
Beringer, M., Wiener, R.L., & Maeder, E. The effects of perspective taking on judgments of sexual harassment. Manuscript under review at Sex Roles.
Maeder, E.M., & Wiener, R.L. Likelihood of using drug courts: Predictions using procedural justice and the theory of planned behaviour. Manuscript under review at Behavioral Sciences and the Law.
Wiener, R.L., Winter, R., Reiter-Palman, R., Arnot, L., Humke, A., Richter, E., & Maeder, E. The effects of prior conduct, legal standards, and ambivalent sexism on sexual harassment judgments. Manuscript under review at Law and Human Behavior.
Conference Presentations
Beringer, M., Maeder, E.M., & Wiener, R.L. (2007, April). The effects of perspective taking on judgments of sexual harassment. Paper presented at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, New York, NY.
Holtje, M., Wiener, R.L., Nichols, S., Arnot, L. &, Maeder, E.M. (2006, March). Using evaluations of Nebraska’s Medicaid division in policy-making. Poster presentation at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference, St. Petersburg, FL.
Maeder, E.M., Laub, C.E., & Bornstein, B.H. (2007, April). The influence of a psychology and law class on legal attitudes and knowledge structures. Paper presentation at the Great Plains Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, Vermillion, SD.
Maeder, E.M., Hunt, J.S., & Olinger, L. (2007, January). The word of a Black man: The influence of character witness and defendant race on juror decision making. Poster presentation at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference, Memphis, TN.
Maeder, E.M., & Wiener, R.L. (2006, March). Likelihood of using drug courts: Predictions using procedural justice and the theory of planned behaviour. Paper presentation at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference, St. Petersburg, FL.
Maeder, E.M., Wiener, R.L., Friedmansky, L., & Nichols, S. (2005, March). Sexual harassment judgments among workers in traditional and untraditional jobs. Paper presentation at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference, La Jolla, CA.
Maeder, E.M., & Pfeifer, J.E. (2004, March). Race, empathy and jury decision making: Examining interaction effects. Paper presentation at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference, Scottsdale, AZ.
Maeder, E.M., Skakun, K., & Pfeifer, J.E. (2003, July). Tort liability and race: Examining the impact of race on mock juror decisions. Poster presentation at the Psychology and Law International Interdisciplinary Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Nichols, S.R., Maeder, E.M., Cantone, J.C., & Wiener, R.L. (2007, May). Juror bias in sexual assault and homicide: Generic prejudice. Paper presentation at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, IL.
Richter, E., Maeder, E.M., Beringer, M., & Wiener, R.L. (2007, May). Influence of attitudes toward the death penalty on balancing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Paper presentation at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, IL.
Wiener, R.L., Nichols, S.R., Maeder, E.M., & Cantone, J.C. (2007, August). Jury research: Undergraduates and community members are not always equal. Paper presentation at the American Psychological Association Conference, San Francisco, CA.