Previous studies have investigated the effects of a humanitarian rapport-orientated and a dominant non-rapport-orientated interview style on the memory performance of adults in two interviews separated by a 6-month interval. Also, the impact of interviewees’ personality on recall was investigated. In the present exploratory study, the data that formed the basis of previous findings were re-analysed for potential indirect effects of interview approach on interviewees’ recall, and for any potential relation between the interview approach and interviewees’ recall as moderated by their personality. Results showed three full mediation effects in the second interview: the rapport index (interviewers’ demeanour) mediated the relation between the interview approach and increased recall; the non-rapport index mediated the relations between the interview approach and decreased recall. Follow-up analyses showed a full mediation effect for the individual items friendliness and cooperation in the rapport index, and for negative attitude, nonchalance, impatience and brusqueness and obstinacy in the non-rapport index. Moreover, the results showed a significant moderation effect; the relationship between the interview approach and confabulated memories being moderated by openness to experience; and a high level of openness was associated with an increase in confabulated memories.

Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) sees the law as a social force with the underlying idea that legal procedures should promote the psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals involved in juridical actions; for example, individual police interviewers could act as therapeutic agents. Investigative interviewing is guided by a truth-seeking and ethical framework; in this view, rapport is an important component for gaining trust and effective communication. Previous research shows that rapport-orientated and non-rapport orientated interview styles result in differences in interviewees’ memory performance and PWB. In the present thesis, a humanitarian rapport-orientated and a dominant non-rapport orientated approach were operationalised based on previous explorative findings of authentic crime victims’ and offenders’ perception of their interviewers as acting in either a humanitarian or dominant manner (Holmberg, 2004; Holmberg & Christianson, 2002). The studies in the present thesis were based on an experimental data collection that consisted of three phases: exposure, interview I (N = 146) and interview II (N = 127; one week and six-month retention period, respectively). Participants were randomly assigned to be interviewed in either a humanitarian rapport-orientated or a non-rapport orientated approach. Basically, it was hypothesised that a humanitarian rapport-oriented approach would increase interviewees’ recall and PWB, and that a dominant non-rapport oriented approach would decrease interviewees’ recall and PWB. Study I assessed the effects of an empirically based model of rapport and a dominant non-rapport orientated approach on adults’ memory performance in an (mock) investigative interview context. Adopting a TJ perspective, Study II described, defined, and measured interviewees’ PWB (Sense of coherence; STAI-S), while Study III investigated the impact of interviewees’ personality (Five-factor model; STAI-T) on their memory performance and PWB. Study IV explored previous findings (Studies I and III) for potential indirect effects of the interview approach on interviewees’ recall, and potential interaction effects between the interview approach and interviewees’ recall as moderated by their personality. Main results showed that a humanitarian rapport-orientated approach, in all essential parts, facilitated interviewees’ recall as well as their psychological well-being, whereas a non-rapport orientated approach, also in all essential parts, hampered interviewees’ recall and contributed to their decreased psychological well-being.

Therapeutic jurisprudence sees the law as a social force; its underlying idea is that legal procedures should promote the psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals involved in juridical actions. In this experimental study, 146 subjects were assigned to one of two groups: one undergoing humanitarian rapport interviews, the other undergoing non-rapport interviews. Each group underwent two interviews separated by a six-month interval. The causal effects of interview style on interviewees’ PWB were measured using sense of coherence and StateTrait Anxiety inventories, both pre and post interview at Interviews I and II. Analysis of covariance of scores from both interviews showed interaction effects between interview style and interviewees’ anxiety and sense of coherence, respectively. At Interview I, a non-rapport approach was related to increased anxiety, that is, decreased PWB when comparing pre- and post-interview testing. At Interview II, a humanitarian rapport approach promoted improved sense of coherence, thus, increased PWB. More empirical research on PWB in relation to therapeutic jurisprudence is needed. The discussion focuses on how PWB should be measured in a therapeutic jurisprudential context of investigative interviews.

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 D 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.

This study describes and tests an empirical-based theoretical model of rapport in an investigative interview context. Essential in this study is whether rapport, operationalized as the humanitarian interview, in two interviews with a six-month retention interval, had any causal effects on the respective memory performance of 146 and 127 interviewees. Independent-samples t‐tests revealed, on both occasions, that a humanitarian rapport interview led to a larger amount of reported information altogether, with more central and peripheral information, than a dominant non-rapport interview did. Regardless of the interview approach, mixed between-within analysis of variance showed a substantially larger amount of reported information in the first interview than the second. The amount of false information reported in both interviews was statistically invariable, regardless of interviewing style.

The amount and the quality of provided information in a police interview can be seen as the lifeblood of a crime investigation where a Therapeutic Jurisprudential approach may act as a facilitating factor.

The aim of the present experimental study was to investigate the causal relationship between the humanitarian respectively the dominant interviewing approach and interview outcome. Interview outcome means the memory performance and psychological well-being. The experiment comprised three phases where 127 subjects between 17 and 70 years old participated. The first phase was an exposure where the subjects acted against each other in pairs in a computer simulation with a scenario symbolizing a crime event. A week after the exposure phase, the subjects were interviewed in a humanitarian or a dominant style symbolizing a police interview after a crime event. Sex month later, the subjects were interviewed again in the same manner, symbolizing the interview in the court proceeding.

Before and after every phase, the participants completed Antonovsky’s sense of coherence questionnaire and Spielberger’s STAI – the state form. The results from the two interview phases will be discussed in terms of interviewing styles, memory performance, that is the amount and quality of provided information, and psychological well-being.