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201579 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.201579 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ All Rights Reserved 2025 166 pages Masters Thesis Academic theses en Drennen, Savanah Mickelson, Kristin Hall, Deborah Koop, Gregory Arizona State University Partial requirement for: M.S., Arizona State University, 2025 Field of study: Psychology Despite substantial scholarly attention on bias in the legal system, little research has examined how gender presentation and sexual orientation influence prosecutorial decision-making. This thesis used an experimental design to investigate how female defendants’ gender presentation (masculine vs. feminine) and sexual orientation (lesbian vs. heterosexual) affected legal outcomes in an ambiguous vehicular injury case. Participants (N = 340) were randomly assigned to one of four defendant conditions and provided charge and sentence recommendations. Overall bias (anti-lesbian prejudice and gender role beliefs) and political orientation were included as covariates. Findings revealed that masculine-presenting defendants were assigned significantly longer probation sentences than feminine-presenting defendants, supporting theories of gender role backlash. Sexual orientation did not independently affect legal outcomes, and no significant interactions were found between gender presentation and sexual orientation. These results suggest that gender presentation may be a more salient identity cue than sexual orientation in legal decision-making, particularly in ambiguous, stereotype neutral cases. Psychology Social Psychology Bias gender presentation legal decision-making Prosecutorial Discretion Sexual Orientation Gender Presentation, Sexual Orientation and Legal Decision-Making: Examining Bias Against Female Defendants