TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring cultural differences in eyewitness accounts using a self-administered reporting technique
AU - Hope, Lorraine
AU - Kontogianni, Feni
AU - Rechdan, Joanne
AU - Tavitian-Emladjian, Lucy
AU - Soubra, Noura Anwar
AU - Abu Marak Brome, Dayana Mazen
AU - Gibson, Violet
AU - Anakwah, Nkansah
PY - 2023/11/21
Y1 - 2023/11/21
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - culture
KW - interviewing
KW - self-administered interview
KW - timeline technique
KW - cross-cultural communication
KW - eyewitness memory
KW - UKRI
KW - ESRC
KW - ES/N009614/1
U2 - 10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279330
DO - 10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279330
M3 - Article
SN - 1068-316X
JO - Psychology, Crime & Law
JF - Psychology, Crime & Law
ER -