Will the truth set them free? Suspects’ strategies during investigative interviews

• Research on both investigative interviewing and deception detection has largely overlooked the investigation of guilty and innocent suspects’ strategies when being interviewed. In this study, mock suspects (N = 96) were interviewed by trained interviewers about a mock crime. The lying suspects had committed a mock crime (a theft), whereas the truth-tellers had not. In an extensive post-interview questionnaire, the suspects answered both closed- and open-ended questions. The analytic focus was set on differences between truth-tellers and liars, and statistical tests showed several significant differences: lying suspects experienced the interviews more cognitively demanding than truth-telling suspects; liars had planned the verbal content more, and were less satisfied with their strategy than truth-tellers. Analyses revealed that lying suspects to a higher degree than innocent suspects applied strategies in order to appear truthful. The open-ended answers were subjected to content analyses. Differences between liars and truth-tellers were found for a number of items, such as reasons for not having a strategy and in the strategy chosen. Lying suspects reported diverse strategies (most often avoid lying and telling the truth as much as possible), whereas truth-telling suspects reported the strategy to tell the truth like it had happened, indicating a belief in the visibility of innocence. Furthermore, differences were found for what the suspects did in order to make the statement appear reliable, and if there was anything in the statements that signalled truth and deception, respectively. Both theoretical – the psychology of guilt and innocence – and applied aspects of the findings are discussed.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)