- Criteria-Based Content Analysis (Steller & Kohnken, 1989) is part of a method used for assessing the credibility of witness statements. One underlying assumption of CBCA is that deceivers will leave out certain contents that they believe will damage their self-image. Recent studies on content-related deceptive strategies of children and adults support this assumption. Nevertheless, results concerning certain motivation-related contents (self-deprecation, pardoning the perpetrator) were inconsistent with this assumption. However, previous studies have dealt with issues other than sexual offense and therefore were of limited external validity concerning specific forensic issues. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of content characteristics with regard to false statements in rape cases. Female non-student adults (N = 120) were given a standardized questionnaire which targeted participants' content- related deception strategies. Results show differences in the strategic value of content characteristics. Moreover,Criteria-Based Content Analysis (Steller & Kohnken, 1989) is part of a method used for assessing the credibility of witness statements. One underlying assumption of CBCA is that deceivers will leave out certain contents that they believe will damage their self-image. Recent studies on content-related deceptive strategies of children and adults support this assumption. Nevertheless, results concerning certain motivation-related contents (self-deprecation, pardoning the perpetrator) were inconsistent with this assumption. However, previous studies have dealt with issues other than sexual offense and therefore were of limited external validity concerning specific forensic issues. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of content characteristics with regard to false statements in rape cases. Female non-student adults (N = 120) were given a standardized questionnaire which targeted participants' content- related deception strategies. Results show differences in the strategic value of content characteristics. Moreover, strategies of deception seem to strongly depend on the type of event assessed…
