RT Article
T1 The influence of room spaciousness on investigative interviews
JF Legal and criminological psychology
VO 24
IS 2
SP 215
OP 228
A1 Hoogesteyn, Katherine
A2 Meijer, Ewout 1975-
A2 Vrij, Aldert 1960-
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1846210917
AB Purpose. The quality of information obtained from investigative interviews largely relies on the quality of communication between the interviewee and interviewer. One aspect of the communication process that has yet to be well examined is the environment in which the interviews take place. The present study examined the influence of physical spaciousness, manipulated as room size and interpersonal sitting distance between interviewer and interviewee on the disclosure of crime-related information, as well as perceptions of rapport and overall interview experience. Methods. Participants engaged in a virtual reality scenario depicting a crime and were interviewed as suspects in either a larger or smaller room, at a closer or larger distance. Results. Results showed no links between room size and sitting distance on disclosure rates. However, an exploratory analysis did reveal that participants interviewed in the larger room reported more positive interview experience in terms of spaciousness, and consequently higher perceptions of rapport, compared to those interviewed in the small room. Conclusions. We found evidence against an influence of room size and interpersonal distance on disclosure. Still, our study does provide initial evidence that manipulating room size in an interview context could positively impact rapport-building.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 227-228
NO Gesehen am 25.05.2023
NO First published: 30 June 2019
K1 Investigative interviewing
K1 room spaciousness
K1 context manipulation
K1 Disclosure
K1 rapport-building
DO 10.1111/lcrp.12156