Rob Cramer , ph.d.

Personality, Diversity, & the Law Lab

Research Interests: For more details, please see my CV.

1. Witness Testimony/Trial Consultation: This line of research examines mechanisms associated with the credibility and effectiveness of witness testimony. Research focuses on witness-related characteristics such as confidence, credibility, self-efficacy, and others. Additionally, juror traits and attitudes such as the Five-Factor Model and need for affect are examined as moderating variables of jury decision making. Future directions include further development of the Witness Self-Efficacy Scale, and comparison of juror perceptions of witness personality and credibility.  Implications of this line of research holds potential utility for witness preparation and jury selection, both of which are areas of interest in my teaching and trial consultation practice.

2. Hate Crimes & Sexual Minority Issues: This area of research has addressed whether mock jurors use evidence of sexual orientation-based hate as an aggravating factor in sentencing. It also examines what juror-related characteristics (e.g., sexual prejudice, authoritarianism) mitigate sentencing decisions.  Current work analyzes these questions in jury samples across Texas.  Of equal importance is the functional impact of hate crime victimization.  As such, my research team currently runs the Legacy Project, a grant examining various social and clinical impacts of victimization.  The project also focuses on identification of sexual minority-specific risk and protective factors for future assessment and intervention. I also maintain a scholarly interest in LGB issues as they pertain to ethical clinical practice.

3. Suicide: This domain of my work broadly addresses personality (e.g., FFM), social (e.g., spirituality), and clinical (e.g., Axis II features) risk and protective factors to consider in assessment of suicide risk across client type (e.g., emerging adults, psychiatric inpatients).  Most recent work focused on scale development and integration of personality and the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.  I also address clinician-related topics such as beliefs about suicide and addressing the need for training in suicide risk assessment. Immediate directions include assessing clinician knowledge and practices related to established guidelines for suicide risk assessment.

Representative Publications: 

Cramer, R.J., DeCoster, J., Neal, T.M.S., & Brodsky, S.L. (In Press). The Observed Witness Efficacy Scale: A Measure of Effective Testimony Skills. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Cramer, R.J., Wakeman, E.E., Chandler, J.F., Mohr, J.J., & Griffin, M.P. (In Press). Hate crimes on trial: Judgments about violent crime against gay men. Psychology, Psychiatry, and Law.

Cramer, R.J., McNiel, D.E., Holley, S.R., Shumway, M., & Boccelarri. A. (In Press). Mental health outcomes and violent crime victimization: Does sexual orientation matter? Law and Human Behavior.

Cramer, R.J., DeCoster, J., Harris, P.B., Fletcher, L.M., & Brodsky, S.L. (2011). A confidence-credibility model of expert witness persuasion: Mediating effects and implications for trial consultation. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 63, 129-137.

Garza, M.J., & Cramer, R.J., (2011). The Spanish Reasons for Living Inventory (SRFL-I): Factor Structure and association with suicide risk among Spanish speaking Hispanics. Archives of Suicide Research, 15, 1-18.

Brodsky, S.L., Griffin, M.P., & Cramer, R.J. (2010). The Witness Credibility Scale: An outcome measure for expert witness research. Behavioral Science & the Law, 28, 892-907.

Cramer, R.J., Neal, T.M.S. DeCoster, J., & Brodsky, S.L. (2010). Witness Self-Efficacy: Development and  validation of the construct. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 28, 784-800.

Cramer, R.J., Chandler, J.F., & Wakeman, E.E. (2010). Attribution of blame as a moderator of  assigning the death penalty in sexual-orientation based crimes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 848-862. 

Please feel free to contact me at rjc021@shsu.edu for more information about my work.

Office CHSS 324

Lab CHSS 328

Office phone (936) 294-2435