THE CONSTRUCTION OF VICTIM AND PERPETRATOR MEMORIES - ACCURACY AND DISTORTION IN ROLE-BASED ACCOUNTS

To study how roles shape the construction of narrative accounts, parti cipants read a story while identifying with its victim or perpetrator and then retold the story in their own words. In Study 5 participants told the story twice, the second time after a 3- to 5-day retention in terval. In Study 3, some participants were given instructions to tell as accurate a story as possible In all three studies, victims and perp etrators distorted to about the same extent, significantly more than c ontrol participants and especially by selective omission of uncongenia l facts. Specific distortions suggested self-serving, role-based motiv ations Perpetrators embellished mitigating circumstances and their own benevolent actions while omitting facts that emphasized severity and responsibility. Victims concentrated on details that described the sev erity of the offense and downplayed the perpetrator's positive actions .