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Chapter 12
Deception
Prepared by Robert Gass & John Seiter
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How could they not know?
Elin Nordegren was unaware at the time that Tiger Woods had 15 or more mistresses
Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky; “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky…”
Dottie Sandusky claims she didn’t know her husband was a pedophile until he was officially charged
Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme cost investors more than $20 billion
Frank Abagnale (about whom the movie Catch Me If You Can was based)
Note: the “truth bias” (discussed later) explains why people sometimes don’t know, or don’t want to know.
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Lying is quite common
Lying appears to be a favorite pastime
DePaulo & Kashy (1998): the average person lied to 34% of the people with whom she/he interacted in a typical week
Hample (1980): respondents reported lying an avg. of 13 times per week
DePaulo & Bell (1996): Married couples lied in 1 out of 10 interactions with their partners
DePaulo & Kashy (1988): college students lied to their mothers in half of their conversations
Robinson, Shepherd, & Heywood (1998): 83% of respondents said they would lie in order to get a job
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4. DECEPTION AND PERSUASION
Deception is a form of persuasion
It is intentional, purposeful communication
It seeks to alter beliefs, attitudes, impressions about another
It involves two or more persons
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The veracity effect
People are not particularly good at detecting deception
Average accuracy is roughly 54%, or just slightly better than chance
The veracity effect
People fare slightly better at detecting truths, and slightly worse at spotting lies
Lying is highly idiosyncratic
Not everyone lies in the same way
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Motivations for lying
Why do people deceive one another?
Lie to benefit another
Lie for affiliation
Lie to protect privacy
Lie to avoid conflict
Lie to appear better (self promotion)
Lie to protect self
Lie to benefit self
Lie to harm another (malicious intent)
Lie for amusement (duping delight)
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7. Information manipulation theory
Not all lies are outright falsehoods
Deception includes distortions, omissions, and selectivity
Liars manipulate the quantity of information
Not telling the whole truth
Liars manipulate the quality of information
Distortions, exaggerations
Liars manipulate the manner in which they present information
Ambiguity, vagueness, equivocation
Liars manipulate the relationship or relevance of information
Irrelevant statements, nonresponsive information
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The four factor model
Arousal: Lying increases anxiousness, nervousness
Attempted control: Liars try to control signs of arousal
Sending capacity hypothesis: Liars know the face has high sending capacity, so they concentrate on controlling facial cue leakage
Controlling facial cues leads to cue leakage elsewhere
Cues tend to be leaked via the extremities, e.g., hands, legs, feet
Emotion: Lying triggers negative emotions
guilt, fear
Thinking: lying usually requires more mental effort
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9. Interpersonal deception theory
Strategic behaviors
uncertainty and vagueness (few, sketchy details)
non-immediacy, reticence, withdrawal (psychological distance, disinterest, aloofness)
dissociation (distance self from message, fewer “I” or “me” statements)
image and relationship protecting behavior (smiling, nodding)
Nonstrategic behaviors
arousal and nervousness
negative affect
incompetent communication performance
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10. Why are some liars better than others?
Wool-pullers
Lying is a communication skill (Camden, Motley, & Wilson, 1984)
Lying is a form of communication competence
Machiavellians tend to be better at lying
High self-monitors tend to be better at lying
Gender differences are small
Females are socialized to be more trusting
Females may have a stronger truth bias
Females focus on misleading cues when listening (eyes, face).
Individual differences tend to swamp gender differences
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11. Are some lies easier to tell?
Prepared lies are easier to tell than impromptu lies
less arousal, less cognitive effort
spontaneous lies feature more verbal and nonverbal cues
Longer lies are harder to tell than shorter lies
more to remember
greater risk of inconsistencies
Lies about personally relevant information are easier to tell than lies about “neutral” information
but observers are better at detecting emotional lies
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12. Motivational impairment effect
The stronger their motivation, the more liars tend to over- control their nonverbal behavior
Liars are more rigid, exhibit less body movement
Deception is often associated with fewer finger, hand, and lower limb movements
Liars think that nervousness, fidgeting, shifting will be perceived as deception
Liars are concentrating on other channels and can’t devote attention to their movements
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High stakes lies
High stakes lies are more detectable than low stakes lies
More arousal leads to greater cue leakage
However, some people’s lives and livelihoods depend on high stakes lies
Undercover cops
Poker players
Spies
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14. Misconceptions about lying
Wrong subjective cue hypothesis
Observers tend to focus on the wrong cues
Deceivers are no more likely to avoid eye contact
Deceivers do not necessarily take longer to answer
Deceivers do not engage in more postural shifting
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Familiarity biases
Truth Bias
People with a truth bias tend to be more trusting
They err on the side of presuming others are being honest
Common among intimates, close friends
Lie Bias
People with a lie bias tend to be more suspicious
They err on the side of mistrusting others
Common among law enforcement personnel
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Familiarity biases
Intimates may be worse at spotting partners’ than strangers’ lies
Their truth bias blinds them to their partner’s deceptiveness
Strangers have less of a truth bias
Cops may brow-beat suspects into false confessions
Cops exhibit a strong lie bias
They are (mistakenly) overconfident of their deception detection skills
They may coerce confessions from innocent people
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suspicion
Suspicious signs
shorter answers
response latency
controlled body movements
Revealing one’s suspicions may make a liar try harder to conceal signs
Opposing effects model
once aroused, suspicion reduces truth bias
suspicious observers are better at spotting lies and worse at discerning the truth
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18. Probing effect & Othello error
The Probing Effect
Probing a “suspect” makes it harder to detect deception
Acting suspicious alerts liars and makes them even more vigilant
Probing heuristic: Observers or 3rd parties are more likely to believe the liar
The Othello Error
Knowing that someone suspects you of lying increases arousal
Arousal cues may be mistaken for deception cues
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19. Eliciting cues to deception
Imposing a greater cognitive load
Lying is more mentally taxing than telling the truth
Increasing a “suspect’s” mental load may result in cue leakage
Strategic questioning approach
Asking unanticipated questions to put a “suspect” off balance
Contextual cues
Statements that contradict known facts
Claims that are inconsistent with known information
Why police always want to verify a suspect’s alibi
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