Prejudgment

Prejudgment refers to forming an opinion about a person, event, claim, or issue before having adequate evidence or information. It can arise from cognitive biases, personal experiences, stereotypes, or exposure to incomplete or misleading information. Prejudgment can influence perception, memory, and decision making, often leading to prematurely drawn conclusions or unfair treatment.

In psychology, prejudgment is associated with fast, intuitive thinking and the tendency to rely on prior assumptions. It can be mitigated by deliberate reasoning, seeking additional data, testing hypotheses, and considering alternative explanations. Awareness of biases such as confirmation bias, anchoring, and availability bias helps reduce the risk of premature conclusions.

In legal contexts, prejudgment may refer to a decision or impression formed before a case has been fully litigated, which can threaten impartiality. Courts guard against prejudgment through due process protections, careful jury selection, and instructions intended to limit influence from pretrial media coverage. The term also appears in prejudgment interest, a statutory provision that may require payment of interest on a claim from an earlier date until judgment to compensate for the loss of use of funds.

Overall, prejudgment is a common phenomenon that can affect judgments and outcomes across domains. Recognizing its existence and implementing safeguards—such as blind or standardized evaluation, explicit criteria, and opportunities to review contrary evidence—can help promote fairer assessments.