The relationship between false confessions and perceptions of parental rearing practices

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Criminology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• False confessions can have significant legal and personal consequences.
• Parental rearing practices are known to influence child development and behavior.
• Understanding factors contributing to false confessions is crucial for legal and psychological fields.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between a history of making false confessions and perceived parental rearing practices.
• To explore the relationship between false confessions and factors such as antisocial behavior, personality, self-esteem, and compliance.
• To differentiate between false confessions made to parents/teachers and those made to police.

Main Methods:

• Survey research involving 804 Icelandic college students.
• Assessment of false confession history (to parents, teachers, police).
• Utilized questionnaires for parental rearing (EMBU), antisocial behavior (Gough Socialization Scale), personality (EPQ), self-esteem (Rosenberg), and compliance (GCS).

Main Results:

• Only 1% of participants reported making false confessions to the police, while 10% reported false confessions to parents or teachers.
• False confessions were significantly associated with higher proneness to antisocial behavior.
• Perceived parental rejection and lack of warmth (EMBU scales) were significantly linked to making false confessions for both fathers and mothers.

Conclusions:

• Parental rearing styles, specifically rejection and absence of warmth, are associated with an increased likelihood of making false confessions.
• Antisocial tendencies also correlate with a history of false confessions.
• The findings suggest that adverse childhood experiences may contribute to false confession behavior, particularly in non-police contexts.