Innocent people confess to crimes they didn’t commit more often than you might think. It might seem illogical, but there are several factors which can influence people to make a false confession. Below we look at false confessions in more detail and explore why someone might confess to a crime they didn’t commit.
Written by Grant Longstaff. Published 24 July 2026.
What is a false confession?
A false confession is when someone admits to a crime they didn’t commit. It’s easy to question why an innocent person might make such a confession. However, research shows that there are occasions when confessions aren’t as reliable as you might think.
What would it take for you to confess to a crime you didn’t commit? It’s a difficult question to answer. Most people would argue they’d never confess to a crime of which they’re innocent. However, you’ll find examples of false confessions around the world which have led to innocent people serving time for a crime they haven’t committed. But how did they reach this point?
The reasons someone might make a false confession are complex. But understanding how such a scenario may occur is an important part of understanding how our minds function in high pressure situations.
Types of false confessions
There are different types of false confession. These are:
- Voluntary false confession
- Coerced-compliant false confessions
- Coerced-internalised false confessions
A voluntary false confession occurs when someone admits to a crime without external pressure. Reasons for this include to protect a loved one or friend, a mental health condition or to gain attention. Voluntary false confessions tend to be less common than coerced false confessions.
A coerced-compliant confession happens when an innocent person confesses because they believe it’s the quickest or safest way to end the situation. These can occur during interrogations when a person experiences extended questioning, intimidation, repeated accusations, sleep deprivation, exhaustion and fear.
Coerced-internalised false confessions occur when an individual gradually begins to doubt their own memories. Through repeated questioning, exposure to misleading information and persistent suggestions from investigators, some suspects start to believe they might be guilty of the crime.
The psychology of false confessions
False confessions usually result from a combination of psychological processes that influence our decision-making under stressful conditions.
Authority
Most people trust authority figures in society and comply with the rules and instructions given from those in positions of power. For example, one of the most famous studies into obedience, carried out by psychologist Stanley Milgram, demonstrated how many individuals willingly comply with instructions from authority figures.
For many people, police officers and detectives hold a position of power and authority. An innocent person might begin to question their beliefs if officers repeatedly insist they’re guilty.
stress
Being arrested can be a highly stressful experience, especially if it’s for a crime you know you didn’t commit. Stress can affect a person’s memory and decision-making skills, and repeated questioning and emotional exhaustion can overwhelm a suspect's ability to think clearly.
Isolation and suggestibility
Isolation can also increase feelings of vulnerability and suspects may become more likely to accept suggestions or believe cooperation is their only option. In turn, this can lead to people being influenced by suggestions made by the police. Leading questions, presenting inaccurate information as fact and encouraging suspects to imagine events repeatedly can distort memories over time.
Rather than being caused by a single factor, false confessions usually result from a combination of psychological pressure, stress, authority and memory distortion.
Can interrogation increase the risk of a false confession?
Research into why innocent people confess shows that certain interview practices have increased the likelihood of false confessions. These include lengthy interviews causing fatigue, repeated accusations, presenting false evidence and leading and repetitive questioning of suspects.
The Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal organisation in the USA which uses DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief to exonerate and free prisoners who they believe have been wrongly convicted, reports that: “On average, people who falsely confessed were interrogated for up to 16 hours before admitting to a crime they did not commit (research shows that the reliability of confessions is greatly reduced after a prolonged interrogation).”
Before the introduction of the Police and Crime Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) in the UK, police interviews were rarely tape-recorded, and the rights of potentially vulnerable suspects to appropriate support were inconsistently observed. The introduction of PACE meant interviews had to be recorded and must follow procedural rules.
It’s important to point out that, as we become more aware of the psychological impact and implications of interrogation techniques, policing has evolved. In the early 1990s The Court of Appeal found suspects in some high-profile cases involving serious crimes from the 1970s and 1980s had made confessions that were not voluntary. Professor John Baldwin, a leading researcher into investigative interviewing, stated: “The main weaknesses that were identified were a lack of preparation, a general ineptitude, poor technique, an assumption of guilt, unduly repetitive, persistent or laboured questioning, a failure to establish the relevant facts and the exertion of too much pressure.”
This led to the introduction of an investigative interviewing method known as the PEACE model. The five stages of the interview are:
- Planning and preparation
- Engage and explain
- Account clarification and challenge
- Closure
- Evaluation
Rather than focusing on extracting confessions, the model encourages ethical information gathering, open questioning and careful evaluation of evidence.
However, there are still cases where false confessions are obtained. The Evidence Based Justice Lab at the University of Exeter references several pieces of research that supports the idea that custodial and interrogative pressure “can be relatively subtle and can occur even when Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 regulations have been followed.”
Further research by the Evidence Based Justice Lab shows that in the UK alone there are over 100 recorded incidents of false confession related miscarriages of justice. These false confessions have led to innocent people collectively spending over 950 years imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit.
Understanding why innocent people confess highlights the importance of fair investigations, ethical interviewing and robust legal safeguards that protect everyone involved.
If you’re interested in learning more about the psychological reasons behind why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit our BSc Hons in Psychology with Criminology degree is perfect for you.
