How Interviewees Determine What Interviewers Want to Know

Barnett, Holly and Neequaye, David and Lorson, Alexandra (2026) How Interviewees Determine What Interviewers Want to Know. International Review of Social Psychology, 39 (1): 10.

Abstract

We examine the mechanisms by which interviewees in investigative interviews mentally organize information when deciphering what an interviewer wants to know. The overarching idea is that such a process stems from the extent to which an interviewer’s question specifies an objective. Our initial test (i.e., Neequaye & Lorson, 2023) suggested two competing mechanisms: High-specificity questions lead interviewees to focus on particularly relevant details to the exclusion of other information, while low-specificity questions make interviewees focus on a broader range of information items (Mechanism-1)—versus—Interviewees generally assume that interviewers want to know all the information at their disposal, irrespective of question specificity (Mechanism-2). We conducted two conceptual replications to gain clarity (Replication 1, N = 318; Replication 2, N = 292). The results were similar across the board. The more specific the questions an interviewer posed, the more likely interviewees homed in on the details that should provide a pragmatic response to those questions. And interviewees’ disposition, whether cooperative, semi-cooperative, or resistant, had no effect on information-item designations. Contrary to our expectations, interviewees remained confident that they had identified what their interviewer wanted to know, irrespective of Question-Specificity. This result held irrespective of whether the interviewer mixed high- and low-specificity questions (Replication 1) or consistently asked high- versus low-specificity questions (Replication 2). Thus, at this point in the research program, we lean more toward Mechanism-1.