Emotional witness effect: implications for memory accuracy, perceptions, misinformation, and credibility in forensic contexts

Purpose: The emotional state of a witness can significantly impact how they are perceived within a forensic setting. If a witness’ emotions appear incongruent with their statement, they may be perceived as deceptive, untrustworthy, or inaccurate. This paper aims to examine the impact of a witness’ emotional state and gender on decision makers’ perceptions and processing of information.

Design/methodology/approach: This study examines the impact of a witness’ emotional tone (neutral versus emotional) in video statements on participant perceptions and memory. It explores gendered expectations around emotionality, considering potential recall benefits of emotional expression against possible detriments, such as reduced focus on factual content and greater susceptibility to misinformation. Using video statements from a male and a female actor, this paper assessed how emotional tone affects credibility judgements and recall.

Findings: Participants displayed strong expectations based on gendered emotional norms. Witnesses who violated these norms were judged more negatively in credibility, perceived emotionality and empathic association. Participants expected unemotional behaviour from males and emotional displays from females. Emotionality in witnesses increased susceptibility to misinformation, while an unemotional female witness facilitated the most accurate memory recall. Male witnesses, regardless of emotionality, enhanced suspect detail recall. These findings highlight the interplay between gender, emotionality and judicial accuracy.

Originality/value: This study uniquely examines the emotional witness effect through the context of gender expectations. By addressing how emotionality influences perceptions and memory recall, it highlights the complexity of these interactions and offers recommendations for future research. The findings contribute to understanding gender–emotion dynamics in forensic contexts, providing insights into their influence on judgement and decision-making.