The relationship between police officers' personalities and interviewing styles

This study examined the relationship between Japanese police officers' personal characteristics and their interviewing styles. Two hundred and seventy-one male police officers who had interviewed serious criminals answered a questionnaire that assessed their personality (using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (FFI) scale), empathy (using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)), and interviewing style. There were some associations between personality and interviewing style but no personal characteristics were related to the presentation of evidence technique. The police officers who scored higher on the “perspective taking” domain of the IRI were more likely to use the active listening technique. Those who had higher levels of “agreeableness” on the NEO-FFI scale tended to employ the rapport building technique. At the time the questionnaire was administered, the Japanese police force had not provided formal training in interviewing techniques that incorporated findings obtained in psychological research. Training might in the future reduce the effect of personal characteristics on the interviewing styles of Japanese police officers.