Purpose: This study examined how the language of eyewitnesses (native vs. non-native) and their perceived credibility influence the interrogation questions posed to them.Method: In a previous study (Raver et al., Frontiers in Psychology, 2023, 14, 1240822), participants, assuming the role of interrogators, watched either a native or non-native speaking eyewitness testify and were then asked to formulate interrogation questions to gather more information, as well as rate the witness’s credibility. In the present study, a new set of participants (N = 207) evaluated a subset of these interrogation questions in terms of (1) how leading they were, (2) whether the interrogator cast doubt on something the witness had said and (3) how open-ended they were. The moderating role of witnesses’ perceived credibility on question framing was also examined.Results: Results showed no main effect of language (native vs. non-native) on any question type. For native speakers, lower (vs. higher) credibility led to more expressions of doubt. For non-native speakers, credibility levels (high vs. low) had no effect on question framing.Conclusion: These findings highlight complex patterns in interrogation questioning that vary by witness language and perceived credibility, revealing a critical area for further exploration to mitigate potential cross-linguistic biases. We discuss the study’s limitations and advocate for future research in diverse legal contexts to ensure fairness and uphold the integrity of witness testimonies across languages.

Non-verbal behaviour, such as facial expressions and body language, plays a critical role in assessments of witnesses’ credibility that inform legal decisions in cases involving crime. While prior research has primarily focused on associations between non-verbal cues and deception, this study investigates the relation between non-verbal cues and recall memory accuracy in honestly reported mock eyewitness testimonies. Using a sample of 36 video-recorded eyewitness testimonies about a violent crime (n = 680 statements), we examined whether non-verbal cues were associated with statement accuracy (correct vs. incorrect), witness credibility as rated by independent observers, and witnesses’ self-reported confidence. Additionally, we explored whether these associations differed for native vs. non-native speaking witnesses. Results revealed no associations between non-verbal cues and statement accuracy or perceived credibility. Furthermore, while non-native speakers were perceived as less credible, these perceptions were not related to non-verbal cues. Our findings contradict common beliefs by showing that non-verbal behaviour is not reliably related to accuracy or perceived credibility in eyewitness testimonies, highlighting the need for caution in their use in high-stakes legal contexts.

Love is commonly hypothesized to function as an evolved commitment device, disincentivizing the pursuit of romantic alternatives and signaling this motivational shift to a partner. Here, we test this possibility against a novel signaling-to-alternatives account, in which love instead operates by dissuading alternatives from pursuing oneself. Overall, we find stronger support for the latter account. In Studies 1 and 2, we find that partner quality relative to alternatives positively predicts feelings of love, and love fails to mitigate the negative effects of desirable alternatives on relationship satisfaction—contradicting the classic commitment device account. In Study 3, using a longitudinal design, we replicate these effects and find that changes in partner quality relative to alternatives predict changes in love over time. In Study 4, we replicate the relationship between love and relative partner quality across 44 countries. In Study 5, we find a nearly one-to-one correspondence between the extent to which partner-directed actions are diagnostic of love and reductions in romantic alternatives' attraction to the actor. These results suggest that love may not act as a commitment device in the classic sense by disincentivizing the pursuit of alternatives but by disincentivizing alternatives from pursuing oneself.

Previous studies have found a negative relationship between creativity and conservatism. However, as these studies were mostly conducted on samples of homogeneous nationality, the generalizability of the effect across different cultures is unknown. We addressed this gap by conducting a study in 28 countries. Based on the notion that attitudes can be shaped by both environmental and ecological factors, we hypothesized that parasite stress can also affect creativity and thus, its potential effects should be controlled for. The results of multilevel analyses showed that, as expected, conservatism was a significant predictor of lower creativity, adjusting for economic status, age, sex, education level, subjective susceptibility to disease, and country-level parasite stress. In addition, most of the variability in creativity was due to individual rather than country-level variance. Our study provides evidence for a weak but significant negative link between conservatism and creativity at the individual level (β = −0.08, p < .001) and no such effect when country-level conservatism was considered. We present our hypotheses considering previous findings on the behavioral immune system in humans.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) significantly harms women globally, yet, research on perpetrator treatment efficacy is inconclusive. Understanding how perpetrators perceive their own perpetrations is crucial for effective prevention and treatment. This study examines how male IPV perpetrators describe their emotions and cognitions surrounding their violent acts, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of interviews with seven convicted men, and six men who had sought treatment voluntarily. Two superordinate themes emerged: Aggression as a means to meet with unfulfilled psychological needs which encompasses how aggression is used to satisfy the need to gain control and protect the self, and Aggression as an automatic response which entails automatically reacting with aggression, for example due to perceiving the world through a hostile lens. These findings can increase our understanding of factors and dynamics related to precipitation and continuation of IPV perpetration, which, in turn, can be identified, assessed, and potential targets for intervention and prevention.