Effects of empathy and question types on suspects’ provision of information in investigative interviews

Abstract

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.

Interviewing young offenders about child-on-child sexual abuse

“…More recent studies emphasize that supportive interviewing promotes rapport, cooperation, and informativeness on the part of adult suspects (e.g., Dianiska et al, 2021;Oleszkiewicz et al, 2023;Vallano et al, 2022). Interestingly, a concern with rapport throughout the interview is more effective than a focus on rapport-building only early in the interview (Baker-Eck & Bull, 2022).…”

“…Interestingly, open questions also facilitate rapport building and maintenance (Brubacher et al, 2020;Kelly & Valencia, 2021), and their co-occurrence in suspects' interviews was associated with higher cooperation from suspects (Kelly & Valencia, 2021), suggesting that the interaction between the two can be especially beneficial. Indeed, Baker-Eck and Bull (2022) reported that the proportion of interviewers' open versus closed questions and interviewer's empathy were associated with real-life suspects' production of forensically relevant information.…”

Improving the preparation of the investigative interviewing of suspects: A multidisciplinary perspective

“…(Dando and Oxburgh, 2016, p. 30). The recent studies aid importance of interviewers' empathy of, various types of empathy and training of police interviewers (Baker-Eck & Bull, 2022;Baker-Eck et al, 2021).…”

“…(Dando & Oxburgh, 2016, p. 30). Најновије студије наглашавају значај испитивачеве емпатије, разне врсте емпатије и обуку полицијских испитивача (Baker-Eck & Bull, 2022;Baker-Eck et al, 2021).…”

Empathy, Self-esteem, and Cyberbullying in vocational high school students

“…According to Albiero et al (2009) empathy is the tendency to experience the emotional states of others. Empathy is the act of understanding, experiencing, and responding to the emotional states and ideas of others (Baker, Bull, & Walsh, 2021). Empathy is a cognitive and emotional understanding of other people's experiences, producing an emotional response that is in accordance with the view that other people deserve love and respect and have intrinsic value (Barnett & Mann, 2013).…”