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Language style matching and police interrogation outcomes

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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>08/2014
<mark>Journal</mark>Law and Human Behavior
Issue number4
Volume38
Number of pages10
Pages (from-to)357-366
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This research examined the coordination of interrogator and suspects’ verbal behavior in interrogations. Sixty-four police interrogations were examined at the aggregate and utterance level using a measure of verbal mimicry known as Language Style Matching. Analyses revealed an interaction between confession and the direction of language matching. Interrogations containing a confession were characterized by higher rates of the suspect matching the interrogators’ language style than interrogations without a confession. A sequence analysis of utterance-level Language Style Matching revealed a divergence in the type of matching that occurred across outcome. There was a linear increase in interrogator-led matching for interrogations containing a confession and an increase in suspect-led matching for nonconfession interrogations. These findings suggest that police interrogations play out, in part, at the basic level of language coordination.