Gender differences in the description of criminal offences

Abstract

The aim of the study was to find differences between women and men in terms of the accuracy and quantity of information provided by witnesses to a crime. In the study, in which 161 women and 119 men participated, the average age of respondents was 19 years. The participants were first shown a shot of a robbery, supposed to have been recorded by a real security camera. It was then explained to them that research will try to verify with their help some of the hypotheses that are relevant for successful completion of the investigation of a criminal offence. The results showed that females are in general more credible witnesses or better observers than males, which appeared most obvious in the description of the persons they saw in the shot. On the other hand, men were more accurate and manifested more self-confidence than women in the description of the event. However, their self-confidence was not justified, since they proved in general to be less credible witnesses than women. In analysing the quantity of obtained information, the author did not find any difference between men and women, which is probably a result of the methodology used in the study. The majority of other researchers, namely, have found that females in general provide more information about an event than their male counterparts.