Eyewitness Memory: The Role of Independent versus Interdependent Self-Construal and Susceptibility to Different Sources of Misinformation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between independent versus interdependent self-construal and the susceptibility to different sources of postevent misinformation. More specifically, people with a more interdependent selfconstrual were hypothesised to be more susceptible to misinformation coming from an authority source rather than a neutral source, compared to people with more independent self-construal. Two hundred and thirty-seven participants (age: 18-35 years, M = 22.80, SD = 3.38; missing data for two cases) were shown a short movieclip of a mock theft, followed by reading a co-witness testimony about the theft that involved misinformation from either an anonymous passer-by or a police officer. Independent versus interdependent self-construal was measured by using the Self-Construal Scale (Singelis, 1994) and a recognition-test was employed. Contrary to assumptions, a two-way ANOVA revealed that a testimony from a police officer induced a significant smaller misinformation effect (p < 0.05) than that of an anonymous passer-by. No further effects between the different self-construal groups (independent versus interdependent) or interactions between the two independent variables were found. These findings suggest the role of the communicator as an influential factor in the eyewitness memory that is important knowledge considering the evaluation of eyewitness testimonies in crime investigations.