Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Police Interview Techniques: A Comparative Study of Indonesian and Dutch Respondents

Previous studies show that a suspect’s culture and communication style may affect their response to the interview techniques used by the interviewer. The current study aimed to explore and compare the perception of common interview techniques between two cultures, Indonesian (high-context culture; n = 155) and Dutch (low-context culture; n = 125). The choice of countries was based on their distinct differences: Indonesia is considered a non-WEIRD country, whereas the Netherlands is considered a WEIRD country. Following the demographic questions and the Horizontal-Vertical Individualism-Collectivism scale, participants read a vignette describing a fictional crime. They then estimated the likelihood of the fictional suspect providing information to the interviewer in response to 32 statements, each representing a different interview technique. An exploratory factor analysis revealed a five-factor model of interviewing: Humanity, Dominance/Control, Empathy/Perspective-taking, Rapport and Guilt-focused. Indonesian participants perceived the Dominance/Control category as more likely to elicit information from the suspect than did their Dutch counterparts. Moreover, Empathy/Perspective-taking was perceived to be more effective in eliciting information by the Dutch participants than by the Indonesian participants. An examination of the mean scores revealed that both groups perceived Dominance/Control and Guilt-focused techniques as being somewhat effective. The findings indicate that an interviewee’s culture could well play a role in how they respond to the interviewer’s approach. Therefore, the cultural background of the suspect should be taken into consideration while preparing for the interview and also during the interview. Raising more awareness of the consequences of harsher interviewing techniques may also be beneficial.<p></p>