Ethics, Medicine and Public Health (2020) 14, 100499 Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com STUDIES The impact of interrogation stress on compliance and suggestibility in U.S. military special operations personnel L’impact du stress de l’interrogation sur la conformité et la suggestibilité du personnel des opérations spéciales militaires des États-Unis C.A. Morgan III (MD MA) a,* , J. Dule (MA, MS) a , Y.G. Rabinowitz (PhD) b a Department of National Security, University of New Haven, CT 06516 United States b U.S. Navy (Marine Corps Special Operations Command), Camp Lejeune, NC Received 3 March 2020; accepted 11 March 2020 KEYWORDS Dissociation; False memories; Interrogation methods; Suggestibility; Survival school Summary The present study was performed to test whether acute stress exposure would significantly increase human compliance and suggestibility. One hundred active duty military participants enrolled in military survival school training were randomized to receive the Gud- jonsson Compliance and Suggestibility Scales (GCS and GSS) prior to, during or after exposure to interrogation stress. All participants were also assessed prior to, and after stress exposure for symptoms of dissociation. Stress exposure significantly increased compliance in individuals who exhibited a pre-stress propensity to dissociation; stress exposure significantly increased suggestibility. These data support the view that some individuals are more likely than oth- ers to experiencing an increase in compliance and in suggestibility if exposed to interrogation stress. These data also suggest that individuals who are vulnerable to stress induced increases in suggestibility and compliance can be identified using psychological measures of dissociation. © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Abbreviations: SERE, Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape; GSS, Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale; GCS, Gudjonsson Compliance Scale; CADSS, Clinician Assessed Dissociative Symptom Scale. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: cmorgan@newhaven.edu (C.A. Morgan III). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemep.2020.100499 2352-5525/© 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.