Effects of a Third Party on Rapport in Investigative Interviews

Abstract

This research examined how the introduction of a third party impacts interviewee rapport in an investigative setting. It has been speculated that a “third person in the communications loop” during an investigative interview may negatively impact critical components of the information collection process, including the establishment of rapport. This exploratory research adopted an innovative content analytic approach using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to examining the construct of rapport, a core aspect of the interview process. Based on the results of this study, rapport, as conceptualized by the three-component model of mutual attentiveness, positivity, and coordination, was not negatively impacted by the presence of a third party in an investigative context. This is practically important because many law enforcement interviews use multiple interviewers and this suggests that this practice will not have a negative effect on rapport in the interview. Additionally, the findings indicate that the anecdotal concern that “three is a crowd” and that the addition of a third party may impact rapport is unfounded.