How emotions affect judgement and decision making in an interrogation scenario

Abstract

Purpose. Little research exists on the influence of emotion in forensic settings. To start filling this gap, we used a hypothetical interrogation scenario to examine the effects of emotional state on judgement, decision making, and information-processing style across two separate experiments. Methods. The participants were induced a specific emotion. Then, they read a scenario where a suspect was arrested and rated (1) the suspect's guilt, and (2) the extent to which they would use a number of tactics to interview the suspect. Based on the feelings-asinformation theory and cognitive-appraisal theories of emotion, we predicted that relative to angry or happy participants, sad participants would be less inclined to judge the suspect as guilty (judgement), would show a stronger tendency to select benevolent interrogation tactics and a weaker tendency to select hostile interrogation tactics (decision making), and would be more likely to use an analytic (rather than a heuristic) processing style. Results. In Experiment 1 (conducted with college students), the judgement hypothesis was supported. In Experiment 2 (with mTurkers), the decision-making hypothesis was supported. A meta-analysis of the two experiments revealed that participants were more willing to select benevolent than hostile interrogation tactics and that, as predicted, sad participants were more willing than angry or happy participants to select benevolent tactics. However, emotion did not affect the participants' tendency to select hostile tactics. Conclusion. We tested emotion theories in an interrogation scenario. The significant results were consistent with the feelings-as-information and cognitive-appraisal theories of emotion and have practical relevance.

The effect of individual differences on the cognitive processes of a witness during interrogation

“…It is found that it is most advantageous for the interrogator not to be overzealous in obtaining testimony and provide the person under interrogation with feedback in which hostile tactics toward them are minimized (Sambrano et al, 2021).…”

“…The "feeling-as-information" theory introduced into the scientific arsenal explores changes in a person's perception of information depending on their current emotional state (anger, sadness, happiness) and the resulting erroneous data, false confessions of guilt, and other untruthful information. It is found that different emotional states can produce similar emotions and accounting for this pattern allows supplementing the interrogation program for further precise correction and adjustment to the witness (Sambrano et al, 2021).…”

Investigating the impact of emotions on perceiving serendipitous information encountering

“…Research in cognitive, behavioral, and neurobiological sciences reveals a close and interdependent relationship between cognition and emotion (e.g., Dolan, 2002; Lazarus, 1991; Lyons, 1999; Ochsner & Phelps, 2007; Pessoa, 2008). Emotion substantially influences humans' cognitive processes, including perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, and problem‐solving (e.g., Kort et al, 2001; Sambrano et al, 2020; Tyng et al, 2017).…”

Swedish and Norwegian police interviewers’ goals, tactics, and emotions when interviewing suspects of child sexual abuse

“…Studies that directly examine the relationship between emotional experiences and interviewer behavior are scarce. One notable example, highly relevant to the present study, is the recent study by Sambrano, Masip, and Blandón-Gitlin (2020). They experimentally induced specific emotions (happiness, sadness, and anger) and observed their influence on mock detectives' preference for interrogation tactics in a hypothetical crime scenario.…”

“…First, specific emotions are associated with cognitive appraisals that may shape interviewers' perception of guilt and responsibility. For instance, anger can increase the perception of criminal intent behind ambiguous actions and promote punitiveness (Ask & Pina, 2011) and may increase the attribution of guilt to a suspect under investigation (Sambrano, Masip, & Blandón-Gitlin, 2020). Second, emotional states influence the type of information processing that an individual is likely to engage in.…”