Language barriers in eyewitness testimonies may pose threats toward witnesses’ accuracy, and consequently on the outcome of judicial procedures. The present study aims to investigate the credibility and the extent of reported detail information of eyewitnesses’ testimony of a crime event, when the testimony is given in witnesses’ first language, second language, or second language through interpreter. Moreover, the study examines whether eyewitness suggestibility is affected by the language to which the testimony is provided. Participants (N=60) were exposed to a mock crime event and subsequently performed memory tests about that event. Results showed no differences in accuracy of suggestibility between experimental conditions. The personality trait social desirability showed no relation to suggestibility or the extent of inaccurate detail information provided in the present study. The findings are discussed in the context of implications, limitations and future directions.

Cette thèse se donne pour ambition la compréhension des mécanismes autoprésentationnels et plus particulièrement ceux liés à l‟expression de la désirabilité sociale en tant que stratégie de présentation de soi, mis en place en fonction du format de passation (i.e. papier/crayon vs. informatisé). Le format de passation informatisé est, en effet, susceptible d‟affecter la manière dont les individus s‟autoprésentent en participant à une perception spécifique du contexte de passation : celui-ci serait perçu comme plus anonymant que le format de passation traditionnel (Kiesler et Sproull, 1986). Alors que la plupart des études ont choisi d‟aborder la question de l‟équivalence des formats de passation traditionnels versus informatisés d‟un point de vue psychométrique, nous tenterons d‟y répondre en interrogeant tant des facteurs dispositionnels tels que l‟attitude envers l‟informatique (expérimentations 1, 2 et 5) que contextuels comme, par exemple, l‟anonymat (expérimentations 3,4 et 5). Deux études se focaliseront sur l‟usage des formats traditionnels et informatisés (expérimentations 5 et 6). Au sein de ce programme de recherche, nous distinguerons également les formats de passation les plus traditionnels (i.e. papier/crayon) des plus récents (i.e. formats offline et online). De manière générale, les résultats valident l‟intérêt d‟une approche psychosociale de l‟équivalence des formats de passation traditionnels versus informatisés. Indépendamment du format de passation auquel les individus sont confrontés (i.e. traditionnel, offline ou online), les stratégies d‟autoprésentation sont influencées par la manière dont les individus perçoivent la situation de passation. / The purpose of this thesis is to understand self-presentation processes and, in particular, the expression of social desirability depending on presentation paper-and-pencil versus computer-based test. Computer-based tests could affect the way respondents express self-presentation because this specific context may be perceived as more impersonal than a paper-and-pencil test (Kiesler et Sproull, 1986). While most studies choose to approach the question of the equivalence of traditional versus computer-based test through a psychometric view, we answer this problematic by questioning dispositional variables such as computer attitude (experimentations 1, 2 and 5) and contextual variables such as anonymity (experimentations 3, 4 and 5). Participants‟ use of these test formats is also studied (experimentations 5 and 6). Within this research program, we distinguish the most traditional (i.e. paper-and-pencil) from the most recent (i.e. offline and online) administration mode. The results validate the interest of a psychosocial approach for the field of equivalence of traditional versus computer-based tests. Regardless of the test version itself (i.e. paper-and-pencil, offline or online), self-presentation strategies depends of individuals‟ perception of the testing context.

The thesis focuses on quasi-experimental research design using descriptions of hypothetical situations (vignettes) with varying dimensions and their levels. The thesis is divided into three parts. First one is devoted to the presentation of the FSA. Second (methodologic) part describes the circumstances of the research conducted within the thesis. It is focused on comparison of FSA and traditional polling method, represented by itemized battery. Topic, through which the comparison is made, is crime, respectively punitiveness. The research also focuses on the comparison of classical and projective methods of questioning. The questionnaire survey method CAWI used split- ballot experiment - a sample of 505 respondents was divided into two parts. One half was interviewed with the vignette and subsequent itemized battery focused on mitigating / aggravating circumstances in the ordinary form (first person) of polling, the second part received a projective form (third person) of the questionnaire. The conclusions of the research are focused both on identifying the mitigating and aggravating circumstances using different methods of inquiry and their comparison, and on a combination of FSA and itemized battery in analysis and detection of inconsistent (and potentially socially desirable) topics. From the...

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Die Themen soziale Erwünschtheit und Faking sind für Psychologen verbunden mit Kontrollinstrumenten, die eingesetzt werden müssen, um Antwortverzerrungen zu vermeiden. Lange Zeit wurde erforscht, ob sozial erwünschtes Verhalten beziehungsweise Faking Konsequenzen hat. Es gibt einzelne Studien, die die Eigenschaft der Konstrukte untersuchen und daran knüpft die vorliegende Arbeit an. Es existieren in den Studien zur sozialen Erwünschtheit und Faking zwei typische Situationen. In Forschungsstudien werden eher unbewusste Prozesse der Antwortverzerrungen untersucht. Studien aus der Praxis beschäftigen sich vor allem mit bewusster Verfälschung. Die erste Studie wurde online durchgeführt, in der Probanden eine Vielzahl von Fragebögen zu den Themen soziale Erwünschtheit, Overclaiming, Overconfidence und Persönlichkeit ausfüllten, um den gemeinsamen Kern eines nomologischen Netzwerkes zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass kein gemeinsamer Kern der Fragebögen gefunden werden konnte. Overclaiming scheint ein eigenes nomologisches Netzwerk zu bilden. Overconfidence kann eher als Fähigkeit der Metakognition als eine Antwortverzerrung bezeichnet. In der zweiten Studie wurde mit einem Model (Ziegler et al., 2015) eine latente Fakingvariable modelliert und anschließend der Zusammenhang zu Skalen der sozialen Erwünschtheit, Overclaiming und den Dark Triad untersucht. Dabei wurden Daten einer Experimentalstichprobe und einer Kontrollgruppe zu zwei Messzeitpunkten erhoben. Die Experimentalstichprobe füllte online zum ersten Messzeitpunkt mehrere Skalen aus. Zum zweiten Messzeitpunkt beantworteten die Probanden im Labor den Persönlichkeitsfragebogen erneut, unter einer zufällig zugeordneten Fakinginstruktion. Die Analyse der Daten ergab bedeutsame Zusammenhänge zwischen der latenten Fakingvariablen und Machiavellismus und einem Faktor zur sozialen Erwünschtheit. Außerdem wurde deutlich, dass der psychologische Prozess für die zwei Faking Situationen unterschiedlich ist. / The issues of social desirability and faking are for many psychologists associated with control instruments to avoid response distortion. For a long time, research questions tended to examine the consequences of faking. There are only a few studies which explored the nature of social desirability or faking, and that is where the current dissertation makes a contribution. In most studies of social desirability or faking, the investigation of response distortion in two different situations is described. On the one hand, unintentional distortion is often explored in research. On the other hand, intentional distortion is examined in the practical field. The first study was an online survey in which the sample completed a large number of questionnaires regarding social desirability, overclaiming, overconfidence, and personality to investigate the common core of a shared nomological network. The results suggest there is no common core among response distortion forms. Overclaiming seems to have its own nomological network. Overconfidence is regarded more as a metacognitive ability rather than a response distortion form. In the second study, by dint of a modeling technique (Ziegler, Maaß, Griffith, & Gammon, 2015), a latent faking variable could be modeled. Subsequently, the relationship between the faking variable and social desirability, overclaiming, and the dark triad was examined. The data of an experimental group and a control group were collected with two measurement occasions. The experimental group was first asked in an online survey to fill out questionnaires. Later the participants came to the laboratory and were randomly assigned to a special instruction group. The results show that Machiavellianism and one factor of socially desirable responding have significant regression weights for both faking conditions. Furthermore, Study 2 implies different psychological processes of faking good and faking bad.

The current dissertation had three primary objectives, categorized into two MTurk studies with capital juror-eligible community members: (a) cross-validate the psychometric properties of the JQVV, (b): explore the role of legal attitudes via the JQVV in mock capital sentencing decisions, and (c): examine the JQVV's ability to detect juror social desirability in capital voir dire. Impressively, Study 1 (N = 552) and Study 2 (N = 313) provided strong and consistent evidence for the JQVV's reliability and construct validity. In the mock juror paradigm, punitive legal attitudes on the JQVV (i.e., Crime-Neg, Convict, and Death-Pos), did not directly affect sentencing decisions, however they indirectly influenced the perception of nearly all other legally relevant variables (e.g., evidence type). For example, participants with more punitive criminal justice attitudes evaluated aggravating evidence more favorably which, in turn, increased death sentence verdicts. Study 1 also underscored the concerningly low levels of comprehension jurors have regarding judicial instructions and other relevant legal knowledge (e.g., the definition of aggravating). In Study 2, the support-life and support-death groups evidenced divergent patterns of social desirability, although support-death participants did not dramatically alter their scores between the genuine and social desirability condition. Additionally, the JQVV Pros-Cyn and Justice-Pos scales were moderately effective at identifying social desirability, marking the first ever questionnaire to examine juror response styles. Implications for research, professional practice in capital jury selection, and legal policy are discussed.

De nombreux chercheurs et cliniciens sont sceptiques quant à la validité des questionnaires autoadministrés, lorsqu’utilisés auprès d’une population carcérale (Gendreau, Irvine et Knight, 1973), surtout si celle-ci est composée de délinquants sexuels (Marshall et Hall, 1995). La sensibilité des sujets investigués jumelés à la transparence des questions expose l’évaluateur à la possibilité que le participant dissimule et modifie ses réponses (Tierney et McCabe, 2001). L’objectif de ce projet est de comprendre les processus impliqués dans la performance des participants à une évaluation autoadministrée. Les données de 282 délinquants sexuels ayant complétés le Multidimensional Inventory of Development, Sex, and Agression (MIDSA) ont été analysées afin de mieux comprendre l’interaction entre les échelles de désirabilité sociale, les temps de latence et les coefficients d’ajustement du modèle de Rasch. La convergence des analyses de temps de latence et des échelles de désirabilité sociale semble indiquer que certains participants dissimuleraient consciemment leurs réponses. Notamment, les participants détectés par les échelles de désirabilité sociales sembleraient répondre de manière de plus lente aux échelles d’évaluations, et certains d’entre eux offriraient des patrons de réponses incohérents à la prescription du modèle de Rasch. Les hypothèses permettant d’expliquer les potentiels mécanismes liés à la dissimulation seront discutées. / Many researchers and clinicians are skeptical towards the validity of self-reported assessment used within a forensic population (Gendreau, Irvine, & Knight, 1973), especially when used within a sexual offender population (Marshall & Hall, 1995). The sensitivity of the topics addressed as well as the transparency of the questions expose the evaluator to possible dissimulations or distortions in the subject responses (Tierney & McCabe, 2001). Responses of 282 sexual offenders who completed the Multidimensional Inventory of Development, Sex, and Aggression (MIDSA) were analyzed in order to understand the interaction between response time, social desirability scales and Rasch person-fit scores in order to account for response distortion. The convergence of latency times and social desirability scales seems to indicate that certain participants consciously manipulate their responses. Notably, participants detected by social desirability scales seem to respond more slowly to particular items. Other participants may answer in ways that are incoherent with the predicted responses according to the Rasch model. Hypotheses as to potential mechanisms underlying this process will be discussed.

L’obiettivo generale del progetto di ricerca è quello di riflettere sul tema della misurazione dei valori nell’ambito delle scienze psicosociali. Secondo la Teoria di Schwartz, i valori sono definiti come obiettivi desiderabili e transituazionali che servono come principi guida nella vita delle persone per guidare e determinare le azioni e gli atteggiamenti. I valori sono stati prevalentemente indagati tramite l’utilizzo di strumenti self-report per raccogliere dati quantitativi. Tuttavia, le risposte a questi strumenti possono essere influenzate da diversi bias, come ad esempio la desiderabilità sociale, oppure possono dipendere dalla tendenza a riflettere in modo introspettivo delle persone che rispondono. Ciò accade principalmente perché i valori sono per definizione ciò che è desiderabile e sono inoltre concetti astratti. Sulla base di queste riflessioni, i Capitoli 1 e 2 considerano in modo teorico ed empirico gli strumenti self-report di misura dei valori e i bias che possono influenzare le risposte a questi strumenti. I Capitoli 3, 4, 5 e 6 considerano invece un recente sviluppo nel campo della misurazione dei valori, ovvero la possibilità di studiare questo costrutto adottando la prospettiva della cognizione sociale implicita, utilizzando quindi strumenti indiretti per acquisire conoscenza sul tema. Nel presente lavoro sono stati sviluppati due strumenti indiretti utili alla misurazione di valori, il Values Implicit Association Task and the Values Lexical Decision Task; tali strumenti sono stati anche analizzati in funzione della loro relazione con gli strumenti self-report di valori e con un outcome comportamentale. / The general aim of the present research project was to reflect on the measurement of values in the field of psychosocial sciences. According to Schwartz’s Theory, values are defined as desirable and trans-situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people's life to select modes, means, and actions. They have been mainly investigated using self-report instruments to gather quantitative data. However, respondents’ answers on these measures may be influenced by different response biases, such as for example socially desirable responding, or may depend on respondents’ tendency to introspection. This is mainly because values are by definition what is desirable, and they are abstract concepts. Based on this Chapters 1 and 2 theoretically and empirically deal with the available self-report measures of values and with the possible biases which are likely to influence respondents’ answers. Chapters 3 to 6 consider instead a recent trend in the field of values measurement, which is the possibility of studying values adopting an implicit social cognition perspective, that is using indirect measures to gain knowledge on the topic. Two indirect measures aimed at measuring values, namely the Values Implicit Association Test and the Values Lexical Decision Task, are here developed and considered in terms of their relations with self-report measures of values and with behavioural outcomes.

This thesis aims to present and explore a mathematical model of attitude change within society. Building on the foundations set up by Lave and March [2] and Eriksson and Strimling [1] we propose a model which includes the possibility of having an overt as well as covert opinion by any individual on a given issue. We lay out the verbal and mathematical specifications for our model, interpret them in the framework of discrete-time dynamical systems and simulate the behavior using Matlab programming. Finally, we propose three conjectures based on the results of our simulations and proceed to subject two of them to further analytical treatment.