The Effects of Lineup Administrator Influence and Mortality Salience on Witness Identification Accuracy

Abstract

We manipulated mortality salience, perpetrator presence in the lineup, and administrator steering in a mock crime paradigm to examine whether reminders of one’s mortality increase susceptibility to influence from a lineup administrator. When steered toward the suspect, witnesses were more likely to choose, yielding lower lineup rejection rates than double-blind administration. Further, steering administrators effectively guided non-mortality-salient (but not mortality-salient) witnesses toward suspect identifications, regardless of the suspect’s actual guilt. Mortality salience similarly increased suspect identifications relative to the double-blind, non-mortality-salient condition. We discuss the implications of these results for the external validity of laboratory eyewitness research.