How Emphatic Displays Affect Investigative Interview Techniques, and Interview Outcomes

Does displaying empathy impact deception-detection accuracy? Phase-one interviewees (n=127) committed a mock-crime and were interviewed in a 2(interview: information-gathering, control) X 2(empathy: present, absent) between-groups design. Interviewers rated deception. Phase-two participant-observers (n=212) rated interviewee deception. Participant-observers were most accurate detecting deception in empathy and information-gathering interviews. Emphatic-displays might distract interviewers.