A Lie and a Mistress: On Increasing the Believability of Your Alibi

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics (n = 150).

	%	n
Sex
Male	24.7	37
Female	75.3	113
Relationship status
Single	30.0	45
Partner, not living together	18.0	27
Partner, living together	52.0	78
Employment status^1
Unemployed	5.4	8
Student	25.5	38
Employed	69.1	103
Highest completed education
Elementary school	0.7	1
Secondary school	24.0	36
Intermediate vocational education	0	0
College or university	75.3	113

Note: ¹: There was one missing value for this characteristic, the valid percentages are displayed.

Table 2. Mean scores (M) and standard deviations (SD) on Times 1 and 2 (n = 100).

	Time 1				Time 2
	Salaciousness
	Non-salacious		Salacious		Non-salacious		Salacious
Presentation Method	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Believability
Mistaken before	3.24	2.54	2.06	1.47	2.84	1.94	4.22	2.78
Lied before	2.69	2.56	4.31	2.76	3.34	1.95	5.35	2.61
Average	2.96	2.54	3.19	2.47	3.09	1.94	4.78	2.73
Strength of the evidence
Mistaken before	4.82	2.85	6.29	2.53	2.51	2.03	2.87	2.12
Lied before	3.30	3.12	5.93	2.80	2.94	2.39	4.10	2.57
Average	4.06	3.06	6.11	2.65	2.72	2.21	3.48	2.41
Contribution to claim of innocence
Mistaken before	3.52	2.39	1.88	1.50	2.66	2.11	3.03	2.54
Lied before	2.32	1.83	3.40	2.73	2.76	1.82	4.30	2.48
Average	2.92	2.20	2.61	2.32	2.71	1.95	3.67	2.51
Ease of fabrication
Mistaken before	3.92	2.98	3.34	2.82	2.73	2.92	1.92	1.97
Lied before	3.30	2.47	3.86	2.52	1.50	1.39	3.72	3.33
Average	3.61	2.73	3.60	2.66	2.11	2.35	2.82	2.86

Note: The dependent variables are displayed in boldface

Table 3. Mean scores (M) and standard deviations (SD) for the dependent variables at time 2 (n = 150).

	Salaciousness
	Non-salacious		Salacious
Presentation Method	M	SD	M	SD
Believability
Immediate	5.62	1.88	3.73	1.95
Mistaken before	2.84	1.94	4.22	2.78
Lied before	3.34	1.95	5.35	2.61
Average	3.93	2.25	4.43	2.53
Strength of the evidence
Immediate	3.68	2.18	2.75	1.65
Mistaken before	2.51	2.03	2.87	2.12
Lied before	2.94	2.39	4.10	2.57
Average	3.04	2.23	3.24	2.20
Contribution to claim of innocence
Immediate	3.62	2.04	3.12	1.92
Mistaken before	2.66	2.11	3.03	2.54
Lied before	2.76	1.82	4.30	2.48
Average	3.02	2.01	3.49	2.37
Ease of fabrication^1
Immediate	2.51	2.33	2.33	2.35
Mistaken before	2.73	2.92	1.92	1.97
Lied before	1.50	1.39	3.72	3.33
Average	2.23	2.33	2.69	2.72

Note: The dependent variables are displayed in boldface There were 11 missing value for this characteristic, the valid percentages are displayed.

Figure 1. Mean scores for alibi believability.

Figure 2. Mean scores for alibi's ease of fabrication.

Table 4. Number of items (n) and percentages (%) of the wanted additional physical supportive evidence.

Type of physical evidence	n	%
Camera recordings	60	55.0
Registration/payment hotel	28	25.7
Telecom (i.e., sent text messages)	6	5.5
Photos	5	4.6
Forensic material (e.g., fingerprints, DNA)	5	4.6
Receipt rental truck/drinks hotel	4	3.7
Moving boxes	1	0.9
Total	109	100.0

Table 5. Number of items (n) and percentages (%) of wanted additional witness supportive evidence.

Type of witness evidence	n	%
Neutral witness	30	37.5
Mistress	14	17.5
Nephew	13	16.3
Neighbours	12	15.0
Unclear (i.e., ‘witnesses’)	6	7.5
Parents	2	2.5
Colleagues	2	2.5
Stranger	1	1.3
Total	80	100.0