RT Article
T1 Effects of empathy and question types on suspects’ provision of information in investigative interviews
JF International journal of police science & management
VO 24
IS 4
SP 406
OP 416
A1 Baker-Eck, Bianca
A2 Bull, Ray
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1820794210
AB The current study examines the relationship between the extent of, and various types of, empathy and of questions on suspects’ provision of information in 16 real-life police interviews. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to: predict suspects’ information provision in relation to (a) open questions, (b) the extent of displayed empathy and (c) each of the empathy types. Verbatim transcriptions of police interviews with suspects of sexual offences were coded for: (a) the extent and types of interviewer empathy, (b) the proportionality of interviewer open versus closed questions, and (c) suspects’ information provision. It was found that the proportion of open (versus closed) questions and the amount of empathy demonstrated by interviewers had a positive relationship with suspects’ information provision. The latter supports a recent finding by the authors involving a different sample of police interviews. Whereas in a growing number of countries the training of police interviewers has been emphasizing use of open questions, the current study aids weight to the small amount of research literature on the importance of interviewer empathy. Indeed, the effectiveness of open questions might be influenced by the amount of interviewer empathy in an interview.
K1 information provision
K1 question types
K1 Empathy
K1 suspects
K1 Investigative interviewing
DO 10.1177/14613557221106073