Rapport-building: Chat versus in-person witness interviews

Katherine Hoogesteyn, Brianna L. Verigin, Danielle Finnick, Ewout H. Meijer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Tactics recommended for rapport-building consist of verbal (e.g., finding common ground or shared experiences) and non-verbal (e.g., affirmations, displaying empathy) behaviours. Most of the research on rapport, however, has examined it in in-person contexts, where both verbal and non-verbal behaviours are present. In this study, we were interested in the effectiveness of rapport-building when conducting online witness interviews via chat, which de-emphasises the use non-verbal rapport behaviours, compared to traditional in-person interviews. Participants (N = 131) experienced a virtual reality (VR) scenario depicting a mock crime and were interviewed either in person or online via the chat function in Skype. Participants perceived rapport more positively when interviewed in person for three measures: attentiveness, trust and respect and expertise. Two other measures, cultural similarity and connected flow, were not perceived differently across interview medium. Participants interviewed online via chat disclosed similar amounts of crime-related information and were just as accurate as participants interviewed in person. We found that in-person interviews yielded better rapport ratings than interviews via chat but were equally productive in terms of the quality of information obtained, as measured by crime-related details and accuracy. If witnesses are to be interviewed via chat, investigators must carefully consider how to compensate for the lack of those non-verbal rapport tactics that influence witnesses' perceptions of attentiveness, trust/respect and investigator's expertise.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)162-178
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling
Volume20
Issue number2
Early online date1 Jan 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2023

Keywords

  • chat interview
  • information disclosure
  • investigative interviewing
  • online rapport
  • rapport-building
  • witness interview
  • COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
  • INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEWS
  • MAINTAINING RAPPORT
  • ONLINE
  • INFORMATION
  • PERCEPTIONS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • INTERNET
  • VICTIMS
  • IMPACT

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