Eyewitness testimony and gender in violent crimes

The present study experimentally investigates the effect of gender on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. I ask whether women or men give a more accurate testimony after witnessing crimes with varying levels of violence. I also examine whether the gender of the victim affects the accuracy of the testimony. Participants are randomly assigned to a vignette that describes a crime that contains either no violence, threats present, or physical violence. The victim will either be masculine or feminine presenting. Participants are then asked to recall details about the victim, perpetrator, and crime setting. I expected that women would perform better in the threat of violence condition or violent condition than the no violence condition. I also expected that women would provide more accurate testimony overall, and that women would provide more accurate details of victims who are also women. My hypotheses were not supported, although small differences did emerge, suggesting that gender and violence may play a role in producing accurate testimony, albeit not a large one. Results also showed that the level of accuracy was significantly impacted by the participants’ confidence in their answers.