Interrogative suggestibility: the importance of being earnest

Use of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales 1 & 2 (GSS 1 & 2) may be complicated by individual or situational differences in the manner in which negative feedback, a key aspect of the procedure, is delivered to the interviewee. The present study attempted to vary the social distance between interviewers and interviewees established during the delivery of negative feedback. The ability of 12 undergraduates to adopt one of three demeanours — friendliness, firmness and sterness — when administering negative feedback using the GSS 2 was assessed. Three of these undergraduates were found to be consistently more able than the others to adopt these demeanours and acted as interviewers. Each experimenter adopted her assigned demeanour when administering negative feedback in interviewing fifteen interviewees using the GSS 2 procedure. Clear trends emerged on two out of three post-feedback GSS scores, with increasing social distance producing increasing GSS scores.