Exploring cultural differences in eyewitness accounts using a self-administered reporting technique

In a globalised world, investigators often interact with witnesses from diverse cultural backgrounds. To date, there is a wealth of research on the use of evidence-based practices to facilitate recall and reporting in information elicitation contexts. However, research has been primarily conducted w...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Hope, Lorraine (Author) ; Kontogianni, Feni (Author) ; Rechdan, Joanne (Author) ; Tavitian-Emladjian, Lucy (Author) ; Soubra, Noura Anwar (Author) ; Abu Marak Brome, Dayana Mazen (Author) ; Gibson, Violet (Author) ; Anakwah, Nkansah (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2026
In: Psychology, crime & law
Year: 2026, Volume: 32, Issue: 1, Pages: 182-200
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Eyewitness memory
cross-cultural communication
timeline technique
self-administered interview
Interviewing
Culture
Description
Summary:In a globalised world, investigators often interact with witnesses from diverse cultural backgrounds. To date, there is a wealth of research on the use of evidence-based practices to facilitate recall and reporting in information elicitation contexts. However, research has been primarily conducted with participants from western (and typically individualistic) cultural contexts, ignoring the potential effects of cultural communication norms on memory reporting among other factors. We compared reports provided by two samples that contrast on the individualist-collectivist dimension (UK vs Lebanon). Participants (N = 118) witnessed a staged crime event and provided an account (in their native language) using a self-administered Timeline Technique or a Free Recall format, before responding to cued recall questions. As in previous research, UK participants reported more correct information when using the Timeline Technique compared to free recall. Contrary to hypotheses, participants in Lebanon provided a similar amount of information across reporting format conditions. Overall, Lebanese participants provided fewer correct details both in spontaneous self-administered reporting formats and in cued recall, compared to their UK counterparts. These findings have implications for information-gathering practices in cross-cultural interactions and highlight the (potential) need to modify existing techniques for different cultural contexts.
ISSN:1477-2744
DOI:10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279330