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Encouraging eyewitnesses to falsely corroborate allegations : effects of rapport-building and incriminating evidence
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Wright, Deborah S., Nash, Robert Alastair and Wade, Kimberley A. (2015) Encouraging eyewitnesses to falsely corroborate allegations : effects of rapport-building and incriminating evidence. Psychology, Crime and Law, 21 (7). pp. 648-660. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2015.1028543 ISSN 1068-316X.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2015.1028543
Abstract
Building rapport involves developing a harmonious relationship with another person and conveying understanding and acceptance towards that person. Law enforcement officers use rapport-building to help gather information from witnesses. But could rapport-building, in some situations, work to contaminate eyewitness testimony? Research shows that compelling incriminating evidence can lead people to corroborate false accusations made against another person. We investigated whether rapport-building – when combined with either Verbal or Verbal+Visual false evidence – might boost these corroboration rates. Subjects took part in a pseudo-gambling task, in which their counterpart was falsely accused of cheating. Using a 2 (Rapport: Rapport vs. No-rapport) × 2 (Incriminating Evidence: Verbal vs. Verbal+Visual) between-subjects design, we persuaded subjects to corroborate the accusation. We found that both rapport and verbal+visual incriminating evidence increased the compliance rate. Even when the incriminating evidence was only presented verbally, rapport-building subjects were almost three times as likely to corroborate a false accusation compared to subjects who did not undergo rapport-building. Our results suggest that although there is widespread and strong support for using rapport-building in interviews, doing so also has the potential to aggravate the contaminating power of suggestive interview techniques.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare | ||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Witnesses, Interviewing in law enforcement, False testimony | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Psychology, Crime and Law | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 1068-316X | ||||||||
| Official Date: | 12 March 2015 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 21 | ||||||||
| Number: | 7 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 648-660 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1080/1068316X.2015.1028543 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 19 July 2016 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 19 July 2016 |
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