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Alcohol intoxicated witnesses' interpretation of social behavior in intimate partner violence
Author(s) -
Karlén Malin Hildebrand,
Lindqvist Bagge AnnSophie,
Fahlke Claudia,
Armelius Kerstin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3505
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology , prosocial behavior , alcohol intoxication , poison control , perception , context (archaeology) , interpersonal communication , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , suicide prevention , developmental psychology , medical emergency , medicine , paleontology , neuroscience , biology
Summary Alcohol intoxication affects social information processing, though research is scarce regarding how alcohol affected eyewitnesses' perception of social interaction within an applied forensic context. In the present study, the effects of alcohol intoxication on eyewitnesses' perception of interaction in intimate partner violence (IPV) were investigated. The participants ( n = 152) were randomized to an experimental (alcohol) or control group (juice). After consumption, they viewed a filmed IPV scenario where both interacting parties were confrontational. Afterwards, they rated the involved parties' behavior. Several behaviors were perceived in a similar manner by intoxicated and sober participants, but intoxicated participants perceived both parties' attacking behaviors and some of the man's prosocial behaviors differently than sober participants. Hence, alcohol affected some, but not all, kinds of social behaviors investigated in the present study. This would be of interest to legal praxis and to future studies on intoxicated witnesses to interpersonal violence.