Citation

Landström S, Ask K, Sommar C. Scand. J. Psychol. 2014; 56(1): 99-104.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Scandinavian Psychological Associations, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/sjop.12176

PMID

25356749

Abstract

The emotional victim effect (EVE, i.e., that the emotionality of a victim's demeanor affects perceived credibility) is a robust research finding for female victims of rape but much less explored for other types of victims and crimes. In this article, we investigate the EVE with a male assault complainant. In addition, we vary the presentation mode via which the complainant is shown to the assessors. A sample of law students (N = 81) participated in an experiment where they viewed and assessed credibility of a male complainant who appeared either live or on video. The complainant behaved either in an emotional or a neutral manner. Result showed that the presentation mode but not the EVE affected the assessors' credibility assessments: The complainant was perceived as more truthful when communicating live, as opposed to via video. Practical implications, as well as the generality of the EVE, are discussed.

Language: en