The article, your comment and the argument they make, that this effect -- if it exists -- should be highly visible across all strata of society, are taking a ton of assumptions for granted. There are a number of plausible scenarios in which this argument falls apart completely:
a) The act of ruling over criminal proceedings places one in a very unique position of power over complete strangers' lives which only judges routinely experience. What subtle effects on empathy, vindictiveness, leniency do minor fluctuations in mood have that are exacerbated by the unique conditions of this profession?
b) Judges are members of an extremely privileged professional class and universally come from extremely privileged backgrounds. The mechanism of the hedonic treadmill might explain how working class folks cope with regular day-to-day stresses with almost no impact to their mood where being peckish at midday is likely the harshest reality of life that a financially secure judge making $100 an hour has to deal with and may disproportionately sour their temper to a comparable degree that someone making minimum wage worries about paying their rent.
Etc etc. There is no compelling proof of this argument.
a) The act of ruling over criminal proceedings places one in a very unique position of power over complete strangers' lives which only judges routinely experience. What subtle effects on empathy, vindictiveness, leniency do minor fluctuations in mood have that are exacerbated by the unique conditions of this profession?
b) Judges are members of an extremely privileged professional class and universally come from extremely privileged backgrounds. The mechanism of the hedonic treadmill might explain how working class folks cope with regular day-to-day stresses with almost no impact to their mood where being peckish at midday is likely the harshest reality of life that a financially secure judge making $100 an hour has to deal with and may disproportionately sour their temper to a comparable degree that someone making minimum wage worries about paying their rent.
Etc etc. There is no compelling proof of this argument.