Eyewitness susceptibility to co-witness misinformation is influenced by co-witness confidence and own self-confidence

ABSTRACT

If an eyewitness is exposed to a co-witness statement that incorrectly blames an innocent bystander for a crime, the eyewitness can be influenced by this statement and also blame the innocent bystander for the crime. This effect is known as blame conformity. In two studies, we examined whether or not this effect is influenced by the degree of confidence a co-witness expresses in her incorrect statement (Study 1) and an eyewitness’s own level of self-confidence (Study 2). Participant eyewitnesses first watched a crime video featuring a perpetrator and an innocent bystander, then read a co-witness statement about the crime that either correctly blamed the perpetrator, incorrectly blamed the innocent bystander, or blamed nobody (a control condition). They were then asked who committed the crime. In Study 1, participants who read an incorrect statement were at increased risk of engaging in blame conformity when the co-witness expressed a high level of confidence, compared to a low level of confidence, in the accuracy of her statement. In Study 2, participants who were lowest in self-confidence were at increased risk of engaging in blame conformity. The theoretical underpinnings of these effects are considered.

KEYWORDS:

• Blame conformity
• eyewitness memory
• memory conformity
• social contagion
• confidence

Acknowledgement

We thank Jack Briggs, Neil Dobbie, Georgia Connolly, and Jane L. Sayers, and Dr Katherine Twomey for assistance with creating the test materials for this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Craig Thorley http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3207-435X

Notes

1. Previous studies have found no evidence of a relationship between memory ability when recollecting information and susceptibility to memory conformity/blame conformity in relation to that same information (e.g. Gabbert, Memon, & Allan, 2003; Thorley, 2013; Thorley & Rushton-Woods, 2013).