Does personality matter when intoxicated witnesses remember a crime?

What is it about?

Alcohol-intoxicated witnesses are common in criminal investigations, but people may respond differently to alcohol. Could a witness’s personality help explain some of these differences in memory? In this quasi-experimental study, we examined for the first time how alcohol intoxication and the Big Five personality traits relate to eyewitness memory. We recruited participants from local bars, objectively measured their alcohol intoxication with a breathalyzer, and assessed their personality via a Big Five test. Participants watched a filmed witness event and were then interviewed about what they remembered about the fictive crime. We found that Big Five personality mattered. Witnesses who scored higher on Openness recalled more details, regardless of their level of intoxication. We also found an interaction between alcohol and Conscientiousness: as intoxication increased, highly conscientious witnesses reported fewer details while maintaining their accuracy. Finally, higher alcohol intoxication was associated with lower memory accuracy and more “I don’t know” responses.

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Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This is the first study to examine how alcohol intoxication and personality may work together to influence eyewitness memory. Previous research has largely focused on alcohol intoxication alone, overlooking the possibility that individual differences between witnesses may also matter. Our findings suggest that the effects of alcohol on eyewitness memory may be more complex than simply asking whether a witness was sober or intoxicated. Personality may help explain differences in how much information witnesses report. Understanding these individual differences could help build a more nuanced scientific picture of intoxicated eyewitness memory and guide future research. This is especially important because intoxicated witnesses are often perceived as less credible and reliable, even though their memory may be influenced by several interacting factors.