What Constitutes “Gross” Coercion? Perceived Coercion in Police Interrogations Using a Virtual Reality Paradigm

2026/07/01 by Hayley M. D. Cleary, Lucy A. Guarnera
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Deception detection and forensic psychology #Forgiveness and Related Behaviors #Psychology of Social Influence

paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/acp.70257

openalex publication_date 2026/07/01 · openalex created_date 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

ABSTRACT “Gross” police coercion is supposed to render confessions involuntary, yet coercion as a psychological construct has rarely been studied in police interrogations. This study used a new virtual reality paradigm to expose participants ( N = 168) to a 30‐min filmed interrogation in which a detective questions a suspect first using rapport‐building tactics, then maximization, then minimization. Factor analysis of 15 novel items yielded three coercion factors: (a) expected leniency, (b) constrained volition, and (c) negative emotions. Multilevel modeling of repeated‐measures coercion ratings indicated that expected leniency decreased, while constrained volition and negative emotions increased to near‐ceiling levels, after accusatorial tactics began. Lifetime traumatic events predicted expected leniency, and traumatic stress symptoms predicted negative emotions, but no other personal characteristics predicted perceived coercion. Findings support the U.S. Supreme Court's assertion that police interrogations involve “inherently compelling pressures” and suggest the threshold for “compelling” coercion may be lower than courts have assumed.

Citations

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Related

• Almost no one feels free to leave an interrogation room: Findings from a virtual reality study of custody perceptions in police interrogations.
• The dynamic nature of interrogation.
• Mobilization and resistance in response to interrogation threat.
• Police interrogations and confessions: Communicating promises and threats by pragmatic implication.
• Peering Inside a Canadian Interrogation Room