He Said, She Said - How misinformation clouds the memory of accuser and accused in sexual assault cases
image:
Screenshots from the video of a date with Samuel (top row) or Jessica (bottom row)
view moreCredit: From research paper.
A new study suggests both defendants and complainants are equally prone to memory distortions in sexual assault cases.
Challenging long-held assumptions about how memory distortion should be understood in the courtroom, this research delivers compelling evidence that both the accused and the complainant in “he said, she said” cases are equally susceptible to memory errors.
There are many legal cases where the only evidence is the recollections of the people involved, with experts presenting opinions on the extent to which people can misremember their own experiences.
When it comes to sexual assault cases, the focus is almost always on the memory of the complainant – who is often treated as an unreliable narrator of her experiences – while the accused’s memory rarely comes in for the same degree of scrutiny.
Published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, the study by researchers from University College Dublin and University College Cork involved a series of experiments using an immersive first-person video to simulate a date that ended in sex.
Those taking part were later assigned the role of either the complainant or the accused in a fictional sexual assault scenario before being exposed to fabricated “witness” accounts that included misleading details and altered key facts from the video. For example, some participants were shown testimony from a barman claiming that the accused was plying the complainant with drinks, even though the original video showed nothing of the sort.
Across more than 1,300 participants in three separate experiments, it was found that individuals in the role of both complainant and accused were equally likely to absorb and recall false details, even when those details supported their assigned narrative.
“We hope that this study will encourage people to re-examine their assumptions regarding the role of memory in sexual assault cases. We have noticed that these cases often hinge on discussions of the complainant’s memory,” said lead author Associate Professor Ciara M. Greene, UCD School of Psychology.
“As memory scientists, we find this strange, since we know that everyone – male or female, complainant or accused – is human and has the same memory frailties. This study provides concrete evidence that memory errors and distortions are not unique to one side of contentious legal cases.”
For the study, two versions of the simulated date were filmed, one featuring a male actor and the other featuring a female actor.
The two videos were identical in all other respects, with each filmed from the perspective of a person going on a date with the man (Samuel) or the woman (Jessica).
The first cohort of participants in both roles received the same misinformation details (experiment 1), wherein those in experiment 2 and 3 were provided misinformation that was tailored to their assigned roles – that is, information designed to make the sexual assault appear more likely or less likely to have occurred.
Strong misinformation effects were observed in both groups, with the complainant and accused equally likely to misremember details of the events leading up to the sexual encounter.
The study included both male and female victims and perpetrators, but interestingly found that memory distortion effects were not affected by gender.
While the study was based on fictional scenarios, its authors argue it highlights that memory is reconstructive and subject to bias, regardless of one’s role in a dispute.
These results align with the argument made in Associate Professors Greene and Murphy’s recent book, Memory Lane: the Perfectly Imperfect Ways We Remember, published by Princeton University Press.
Co-author Assoc Prof. Gillian Murphy (UCC School of Applied Psychology) noted that: “We have a responsibility as memory scientists to banish myths about memory. In our book and in this paper, we stress that our memories mostly serve us very well and provide a good account of our experiences, but they can sometimes be prone to error, no matter what side of the courtroom you’re on”.
Misinformation effect among participants assigned to the complainant and accused roles in study 1. Error bars represent standard error of the mean
Number of items of congenial misinformation reported by participants assigned to the ‘complainant’ and ‘accused’ roles in Study 2.
Number of misinformation answers selected by participants in the ‘complainant’ and ‘accused’ roles in Study 3.
Number of misinformation answers selected by participants in the ‘complainant’ and ‘accused’ roles in Study 3.
Journal
Scientific Reports
Subject of Research
People
Article Publication Date
29-Jul-2025
Study reveals importance of culture in intimate partner violence recovery
IPV affects college students at high rates, with Latina students being at heightened risk
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A new study from the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison looking into the mental health and well-being of Latina college students who have experienced intimate partner violence, or IPV, emphasizes the need for culturally responsive approaches to support effective healing.
The study explored two types of well-being: a culturally specific, Latinx-specific well-being, and a more generalizable well-being applicable to the public at large.
IPV is a form of abuse occurring within romantic or intimate relationships. It affects college students at disproportionately high rates. Latina students are at heightened risk.
“Although the research is still growing regarding Latinas and IPV, what we do know is that strict and harmful gendered roles, self-silencing norms, historical trauma, family violence, and social/community experiences make Latinas more susceptible to IPV,” said Nancy Herrera, the first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience in the UCR School of Medicine. “Further, there is a complex relationship of societal, cultural, and individual factors that contribute to Latinas’ heightened susceptibility to IPV.”
Published in the journal Violence Against Women, the study used the Psychosociocultural Framework to examine the role of resilient coping, social support, and marianismo (a traditional Latina gender role) in shaping culturally grounded (emic) well-being and universal (etic) well-being. Findings revealed that these factors collectively explained 19% of emic well-being and 38% of etic well-being, underscoring the relevance of culture in understanding trauma recovery.
Herrera explained that the Psychosociocultural Framework is used to investigate whether and how specific psychological, social, and cultural variables, both individually and collectively, influence education and mental health outcomes. She said the framework was created to understand the experiences of historically minoritized students through a holistic and empowerment lens.
The study found resilient coping was a strong predictor of both emic and etic well-being. Social support was significantly related to etic well-being but not to emic well-being, suggesting that traditional measures of support may not fully capture Latina students’ lived experiences. The researchers found Marianismo was inversely associated with well-being, particularly when internalized in ways that reinforce self-sacrifice and discourage help-seeking. The study acknowledges marianismo’s dual role: it can offer both strength and constraint.
Participants included 453 Latina college students across the United States, all of whom identified as IPV survivors and were no longer in abusive relationships at the time of the study. They completed an anonymous online survey distributed via Latina-centered social media accounts and university programs.
Herrera said one of the study’s main implications for mental health providers is the importance of attending to the well-being of Latina survivors by considering their cultural and gendered identities.
“Centering their culture in the context of their trauma is an essential component to their healing, resilience, and educational persistence,” she said. “Research implications include the need to develop, test, and norm questionnaires for the community being studied. That is not to minimize the importance of mental health questionnaires for use across communities; a combined use of culturally informed and generalized mental health questionnaires is overlooked by one form of questionnaire, potentially affecting Latinas’ healing journey.”
A Latina survivor of IPV, Herrera said navigating higher education while healing from her trauma informed her identity as a researcher and psychologist.
“My healing journey became my inspiration to help other Latinas who are trying to complete a degree while simultaneously healing from their trauma via research and through therapy,” she said. “The likelihood of Latinas entering universities with a history of IPV, experiencing IPV on college campuses, or both, informed this study. Understanding Latinas’ experiences is essential to provide culturally congruent and affirming services that better support their healing and wellness on college campuses.”
Herrera plans to further understand the resilience and healing of Latina survivors within the context of higher education. Her follow-up studies will build upon and expand upon the current study, creating “culturally congruent mental health models and treatments to address the unique and cultural experiences of Latinas adequately.”
“Latinas’ culture and unique experiences add complexity and context that is further augmented as college students,” Herrera said. “Studies like ours can serve as a foundation for attending to the experiences of other women of color who are both survivors of IPV and college students.”
Herrera was joined in the study by Alberta M. Gloria of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The title of the paper is “Latina College Student Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: A Psychosociocultural Approach to Their Etic and Emic Well-Being.”
The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 26,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual impact of more than $2.7 billion on the U.S. economy. To learn more, visit www.ucr.edu.
Journal
Violence Against Women
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Latina College Student Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: A Psychosociocultural Approach to Their Etic and Emic Well-Being.
Article Publication Date
26-Jun-2025
COI Statement
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
