SELF-EVALUATION AND PERSONALITY AS ANTECEDENTS OF EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY AMONG UNDERGRADUATES

This current research is used to assess the role of personality factors in influencing Nigerian eyewitness accounts; that is, does self-evaluation, as well as classical Five-Factor model of personality traits moderate these reports of eyewitness accounts. Information was collected among 193 undergraduates at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus where 117 were females, and 76 were males. The participants were chosen with the help of simple random sampling procedure. These were young adults aged between the age of 18 years to 34 years with a mean age of 22.23 (SD = 3.26). The questionnaire used consisted of demographic items and three self-report scales that were the Eyewitness Metamemory Scale, the Big Five Personality Inventory, and the Core Self-Evaluation Scale. The test of the amount of variance in the eyewitness testimony explained by self-evaluation was done through hierarchical multiple regression. The results suggest that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience do not have any significant impact on the evidence given by an eyewitness. Similarly, core self-evaluation does not demonstrate any significant relationship with the testimony reports of the participants. In turn, the personality characteristics or self-perceptions do not emerge as trustworthy predictors of eyewitness testimony in Nigeria. In the end, the article presents the discussion of limitation and future research.