Crying Equals Honesty : Crying Equals Honesty How Different Emotions Influence the Perceived Credibility of a Child Witness

Abstract

The present study examines how expressed emotions by a child disclosing an alleged incident regarding child sex abuse (CSA) may affect the child’s perceived credibility and other factors regarding guilt and punishment. A mock police interview was conducted at the children’s House in Oslo, where the interrogation interviews of children usually are conducted. The participants (n=119) were shown one of four videotaped police interviews. The video contained a girl, 11 years of age, testifying an incident of alleged sexual abuse by her father. The testimony had identical wording, but the emotional expression was different in the four conditions, divided into neutral, sad, angry, and positive emotional conditions. The results showed the angry emotional condition received significantly lower credibility scores than the other emotional conditions among all participants. Male and female participants differed upon their credibility scores in the positive emotional condition only. Female participants also rendered more guilty verdicts than male participants.