Personality Affects Memory Performance and Psychological Well-Being in Investigative Interviews: A Therapeutic Jurisprudential Approach

Abstract

Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) aims to execute legal procedures in ways that promote the psychological well-being (PWB) of the individuals involved. This experimental study investigates the impact of personality on interviewees' memory performance and PWB from a TJ perspective. PWB was defined by state anxiety (STAI-S) and sense of coherence (SOC). Interviewees' personalities were assessed using the 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory (Rammstedt, B., & John, O. P. (2007). Measuring personality in one minute or less: a 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 203–212) and State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T; Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R., Lushene, P. R. Vagg, P. R., & Jacobs, G. A. (1983). State–Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press]. Participants (N = 146) were assigned to undergo either humanitarian rapport interviews or non-rapport interviews. Each group underwent one exposure (computer simulation) and two interviews separated by a 6-month interval. Regression analysis showed that neuroticism (N), openness to experience (O) and extraversion (E) predicted interviewees' memory performance; N and O were moderated by interview style. Moreover, E and agreeableness (A) predicted higher SOC and lower STAI-S, that is, increased PWB, whereas N predicted lower SOC and elevated levels of STAI-S, that is, lower PWB. In Interviews I and II, STAI-T and a non-rapport approach were a stronger predictor of lower SOC. The results are discussed from a TJ perspective.