Own-Gender Bias May Affect Eyewitness Accuracy of Perpetrators' Personal Descriptions

Abstract

Eyewitness testimony remains an important element in resolving criminal investigations. Despite a great deal of research on the subject, the understanding of the effects that witness gender might have on their testimony remains rather limited. The aim of the present study was to examine own-gender bias in recalling personal descriptions of perpetrators. Participants, who were invited to take part in the study, were told they were providing real-life assistance to criminal investigators and potentially helping them to verify hypotheses concerning an actual crime. The participants comprised 256 undergraduate volunteers, who were placed in one of the four groups. Each group observed one of the four crime scenarios that were varied only in terms of gender of either the victim or the perpetrator. All scenarios were designed as footage taken by a CCTV surveillance camera and involved two-minute videos of a staged assault and robbery. After seven days, participants completed a survey on the basis of which the accuracy and quantity of perpetrators' personal descriptions were checked. Results revealed that participants' accuracy of memory recall was modest. It was found that gender had a significant main effect on the accuracy of personal descriptions in all four research conditions, while an own-gender bias was also established. The highest accuracy of perpetrators' personal descriptions was found when male participants reported details of a male perpetrator attacking a female victim, and when female participants described a female perpetrator attacking a female victim. The lowest accuracy was established when female participants described the male perpetrator molesting the male victim. However, no effect of gender on the amount of reported personal descriptions was found.