title: Temporal discounting: the differential effect of proximal and distal consequences on confession decisions.
abstract: Drawing on the psychological principle that proximal consequences influence behavior more strongly than distal consequences, the authors tested the hypothesis that criminal suspects exhibit a short-sightedness during police interrogation that increases their risk for confession. Consistent with this hypothesis, Experiment 1 showed that participants (N = 81) altered how frequently they admitted to criminal and unethical behaviors during an interview to avoid a proximal consequence even though doing so increased their risk of incurring a distal consequence. Experiment 2 (N = 143) yielded the same pattern, but with a procedure that reversed the order of the proximal and distal consequences, thereby ruling out the possibility that it was the unique characteristics of the consequences rather than their proximity that influenced the admission rate. The authors discuss the supported psychological process as a potential explanation for several well-established findings reported in the literature on confessions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, W112 Lagomarcino Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA. madon@iastate.edu
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madon
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guyll
authors.forename: Kyle C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Scherr
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Greathouse
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007484:Iowa; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D011582:Psychological Theory; D014342:Truth Disclosure