Abstract/Summary

Effective investigative interviewing is crucial for obtaining reliable and accurate witness testimonies. However, research has often focussed on interviewing contexts while overlooking how individual differences shape memory performance and susceptibility to suggestions. Given the interpersonal nature of interviews, this oversight limits our understanding of how individuals respond differently to various interviewing conditions. To address this gap, this thesis comprised four studies exploring the combined influence of situational and dispositional factors on recall and suggestibility across adults, school-aged children, and preschoolers in Malaysia. Study 1 investigated the contributions of interviewer demeanour, misinformation, and individual differences, to adults’ interview performance in online settings. Findings demonstrated that personality traits and parenting styles were stronger predictors of recall and suggestibility than the interviewing context itself. A supportive interviewer enhanced recall accuracy, while misinformation increased confabulation. Study 2 extended the investigation to school-aged children, showing that intelligence, temperament, and parenting styles significantly influenced eyewitness reports. A non-supportive interviewer demeanour improved recall, while misinformation distorted accuracy. Study 3 focussed on preschoolers to assess the impact of misinformation sources (interviewer vs. peer) and individual differences. Peer misinformation, compared to interviewer provided misinformation, had a greater effect on inaccurate recall. Negative emotionality was negatively linked to accurate recall, and authoritarian parenting was linked with increased susceptibility to misinformation. Study 4 included an additional group of school-aged children who were exposed to peer misinformation to explore potential developmental trends in susceptibility to misinformation. The descriptive analyses revealed age-related patterns, and peer misinformation appeared to be less influential than interviewer misinformation for school-aged children. Overall, this thesis highlights that recall and suggestibility are influenced not only by interviewing contexts but also by interviewees’ internal characteristics, developmental environments, and cultural backgrounds. The findings contribute to existing literature by demonstrating the significant role of parenting styles in shaping interviewees’ behaviour and performance during interviews. These findings provide valuable insights for developing more effective, culturally sensitive, and developmentally appropriate investigative interviewing practices.