title: The emotional male victim: effects of presentation mode on judged credibility.
abstract: The emotional victim effect (EVE, i.e., that the emotionality of a victim's demeanor affects perceived credibility) is a robust research finding for female victims of rape but much less explored for other types of victims and crimes. In this article, we investigate the EVE with a male assault complainant. In addition, we vary the presentation mode via which the complainant is shown to the assessors. A sample of law students (N = 81) participated in an experiment where they viewed and assessed credibility of a male complainant who appeared either live or on video. The complainant behaved either in an emotional or a neutral manner. Result showed that the presentation mode but not the EVE affected the assessors' credibility assessments: The complainant was perceived as more truthful when communicating live, as opposed to via video. Practical implications, as well as the generality of the EVE, are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landström
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ask
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sommar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Emotions; credibility; crime victim; gender; male victim; presentation mode