Jailhouse informants are thought to be one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. The current studies examined community members’ (E1: N = 99; E2: N = 289) willingness to provide false testimony as a jailhouse informant. In E1, participants were all presented a first offer (1-year sentence reduction) to testify as a jailhouse informant. Those who declined were presented up to three additional offers (four total): a complete reduction in fines, total immunity, and financial support in exchange for testimony. In E2, participants were presented with one of two offers (levels 1 or 4). Notably, 27% (E1) and 17% (E2) of participants were willing to falsely testify against another inmate. Willing participants rated themselves as overall less credible and more interested in serving their own interests than unwilling participants. In addition, cognitive networks of participants’ decision-making revealed that participants were motivated primarily by self-interest. These findings provide novel insight into the decision-making of jailhouse informants and are discussed in terms of legal implications.

监狱线人被认为是错误定罪的主要原因之一。目前的研究考察了社区成员（E1：N  = 99；E2：N  = 289）作为监狱线人提供虚假证词的意愿。在 E1 中，所有参与者都获得了第一个提议（减刑 1 年），以作为监狱线人作证。拒绝的人将获得最多三个额外的提议（总共四个）：完全减少罚款、完全豁免和财务支持以换取证词。在 E2 中，向参与者提供了两种优惠之一（1 级或 4 级）。值得注意的是，27% (E1) 和 17% (E2) 的参与者愿意虚假作证反对另一名囚犯。与不情愿的参与者相比，愿意的参与者总体上认为自己的可信度较低，并且对为自己的利益服务更感兴趣。此外，参与者决策的认知网络显示参与者主要是出于自身利益的动机。这些发现为监狱线人的决策提供了新的见解，并在法律影响方面进行了讨论。