An examination of the influence of working with an opposite sex partner on a police officer's behaviour

Abstract

32 male and 32 female police officers took part in a study which investigated the influence working in mixed sex pairs had on their recall of an interview of a suspect. It was found that male officers made more minor mistakes when working with a female than a male colleague. With females the opposite was true. Female officers had more confidence in the accuracy of their recall when working with a male than another female colleague. Males were no less confident when working with females. It was suggested that mixed sex pairs provide benefits for female officers with minimal adverse effects on male colleagues.