A Cylinder Model of Communication Behaviors In Military Investigative Interviews: Motivational Frame Matching and Interview Outcomes

Authors:

Abstract: Two set of studies aimed to explore (i) the structure of communication behaviors in a sample of military investigative interviews (N = 24) to establish their underlying motivational frame structure, and (ii) the potential benefit of matching of those motivational frames. In the first study, the communication behaviors (N = 39,399) followed a cylindrical structure, with instrumental, relational, and identity motivational frames communicated across cooperative, competitive, or avoidance orientations. Looking at the motivational frame matching, study 2 found an interaction between confession and the direction of motivational frame matching. Interviews containing a confession contained more motivational frame matching by the suspect of the interviewer’s frames (but not vice versa). These findings suggest that military investigative interviews are, in part, being shaped at the level of motivational frames and their coordination.

Track: COMM

Keywords: cylinder model; motivational frame matching; investigative interviews; confessions