For many purposes in England and Wales, the Court of Protection determines whether a person has or lacks capacity to make a decision, by applying the test within the Mental Capacity Act 2005. This test is regularly described as a cognitive test with cognitive processes discussed as internal characteristics. However, it is unclear how the courts have framed interpersonal influence as negatively impacting upon a person’s decision-making processes in a capacity assessment context. We reviewed published court judgments in England and Wales in which interpersonal problems were discussed as relevant to capacity. Through content analysis, we developed a typology that highlights five ways the courts considered influence to be problematic to capacity across these cases. Interpersonal influence problems were constructed as (i) P’s inability to preserve their free will or independence, (ii) restricting P’s perspective, (iii) valuing or dependence on a relationship, (iv) acting on a general suggestibility to influence, or (v) P denying facts about the relationship. These supposed mechanisms of interpersonal influence problems are poorly understood and clearly merit further consideration. Our typology and case discussion are a start towards more detailed practice guidelines, and raise questions as to whether mental capacity and influence should remain legally distinct.

中文翻译：

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人际对决策能力的影响：法院判决的内容分析

在英格兰和威尔士，出于多种目的，保护法院通过应用 2005 年心智能力法中的测试来确定一个人是否有或缺乏做出决定的能力。该测试通常被描述为认知测试，其认知过程讨论为内部特征。然而，尚不清楚法院如何在能力评估背景下将人际影响力界定为对个人决策过程产生负面影响。我们回顾了英格兰和威尔士已发表的法院判决，其中讨论了与能力相关的人际关系问题。通过内容分析，我们开发了一种类型学，强调了法院认为对这些案件的能力造成影响的五种方式。人际影响力问题被构建为（i）P 无法保持其自由意志或独立性，（ii）限制 P 的观点，（iii）对关系的重视或依赖，（iv）根据普遍的影响暗示行事，或（v） ) P 否认有关这段关系的事实。人们对这些所谓的人际影响问题的机制知之甚少，显然值得进一步考虑。我们的类型学和案例讨论是更详细的实践指南的开始，并提出了心理能力和影响力是否应该在法律上保持独立的问题。