Instructor Resources for Chapter 12
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Chapter Outline
Opening scenario: Feeling the Pain of Dishonesty
I. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception
a. Defining deception
i. High-stakes lies
ii. Low-stakes lies
iii. Middle-stakes lies
b. The elements of deception
i. You aren’t lying if you believe that what you’re saying is true.
ii. You’re not lying if you don’t intend for others to believe what you’re saying.
iii. You cannot lie to yourself.
c. Interpersonal deception is a common component of politeness.
d. Deception is common when communicating online.
Learn it, apply it, reflect on it
II. The Diversity of Deceptive Acts
a. Some reasons why people deceive
b. Some lies falsify or exaggerate.
i. People can lie through falsification.
ii. People can lie through exaggeration.
c. Some lies omit or distort information.
i. People can lie through omission.
ii. People can lie through equivocation.
Learn it, apply it, reflect on it
III. Communication Behaviors and Deception
a. Detecting deception is difficult.
b. Some behaviors are common during acts of deception.
i. False information is often inconsistent.
ii. Deceivers often commit speech errors.
iii. Deception often increases vocal pitch.
iv. Two eye behaviors are associated with lying.
v. Liars often use false smiles.
vi. Many liars use minimal body movement.
Learn it, apply it, reflect on it
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IV. Detecting Lies in Different Contexts
a. Familiarity affects our ability to detect deception.
b. Expressive people are better liars.
c. Culture matters, but only sometimes.
d. Motivation affects our ability to deceive.
e. Suspicion may not improve deception detection.
f. Context affects our ability to spot lies.
Learn it, apply it, reflect on it
In-text boxes:
a. Communication/Dark Side: Lying to the ones we love: Deception can cause pain
and ruin trust.
b. At a Glance: Forms of deception
c. Got Skills? Identifying deceptive forms
d. Fact or Fiction? Most people can’t look you in the eye while lying.
e. At a Glance: Communication while lying
f. Got Skills? Detecting deception
g. Assess Your Skills: Knowing the truth about lying
Key Terms
acts of dissimulation
acts of simulation
deception
equivocation
exaggeration
falsification
interactive context
motivation impairment effect
noninteractive context
omission
truth bias
Definitions for Key Terms
acts of dissimulation: forms of deception that involve omitting certain details that would change
the nature of the story if they were known
acts of simulation: forms of deception that involve fabricating information or exaggerating facts
for the purpose of misleading others
deception: the knowing and intentional transmission of information to create a false belief in
the hearer
equivocation: a form of deception that involves giving vague, ambiguous answers to a question
to give the false impression that one has answered it
exaggeration: a form of deception that involves inflating or overstating facts
falsification: a form of deception that involves presenting false, fabricated information as though
it were true
interactive context: a context for communicating in which participants can see and/or hear each
other and react to each other in real time (for example, face-to-face conversation,
telephone conversation)
motivation impairment effect: a hypothesis that motivation to succeed in a lie will impair a
deceiver’s verbal performance, making the lie less likely to be believed
noninteractive context: a context for communicating in which the participants cannot react to
each other in real time (for example, voice mail message, an e-mail message)
omission: a form of deception that involves leaving consequential details out of one’s story
truth bias: the tendency to believe what someone says, in the absence of a reason not to
Discussion Questions
• Why is it so distressing to find out someone has lied to you?
• Being polite often involves being deceptive; is deception justified if it is done to spare
someone’s feelings? What if it is done to spare someone’s life?
• Why can you technically not deceive yourself?
• In what professions do you think people lie the most? The least?
• How do you feel when you lie to someone? In what situations are you the most likely to feel
nervous? How about guilty?
• Why do you think most people do so poorly at detecting deception?
• Why do you think people lie more frequently in e-mails or text messages than they would in
handwritten messages?
• Why do you think there is a difference in the way men and women lie about themselves on
dating sites?
• With which people in your life do you have the strongest truth bias? Is there anyone you
would believe no matter what?
• What do you think are the most common things for people to lie about?
Additional Resources
• Ekman, P. (2009). Telling lies: Clues to deceit in the marketplace, politics, and marriage
(3rd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
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• Houston, P., Floyd, M., Carnicero, S., & Tennant, D. (2013). Spy the lie: Former CIA
officers teach you how to detect deception. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
• Knapp, M. L. (2007). Lying and deception in human interaction. Boston, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
• Martin, C. (Ed.). (2009). The philosophy of deception. New York, NY: Oxford University
Press.
• McGlone, M. S., & Knapp, M. L. (Eds.). (2009). The interplay of truth and deception: New
agendas in theory and research. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Vrij, A. (2008). Detecting lies and deceit: Pitfalls and opportunities (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: John Wiley & Sons.
• Vrij, A., & Granhag, P. A. (2012). Eliciting cues to deception and truth: What matters are the
questions asked. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1, 110–117.
Learning Objectives in CONNECT for Interpersonal Communication
The Nature of Interpersonal Deception
• Recall that deception is often a part of everyday social interaction.
• Recall that studying deception helps people detect it.
• Define deception.
• Explain how deceptive acts fall on a continuum between high-, medium-, and low-stakes lies.
• Recall the three basic elements of deception.
• Explain how the transmission of information and the motive for lying help determine what is
considered deception.
• Recall that deception is often used in order to be polite and avoid hurting others.
• Explain how deception can serve as a social lubricant.
• Recall that deception frequently occurs in electronically mediated communication.
• Explain why dishonesty is more likely to occur in forms that allow for anonymity.
• Describe why online daters choose to engage in deception.
The Diversity of Deceptive Act
• Recall the most common reasons that people engage in deception.
• Define acts of simulation.
• Explain falsification as an act of simulation
• Explain exaggeration as an act of simulation.
• Define acts of dissimulation.
• Recall that omission and equivocation are two types of acts of dissimulation.
• Explain omission as an act of dissimulation.
• Explain equivocation as an act of dissimulation.
Communication Behaviors and Deception
• Explain the difficulty in detecting deception.
• Explain the truth bias.
• Recall how effective people are, on average, at detecting deception.
• Explain why inconsistency of information is an indicator of deception.
• Recall that people often make more speech errors when lying.
• Recall that when someone is lying, his or her vocal pitch tends to rise.
• Identify the eye behaviors that are indicators of deception.
• Recall that liars are more likely to use false smiles.
• Explain why people who engage in deception exhibit fewer body movements.
Detecting Lies in Different Contexts
• Recall the factors that affect one’s ability to distinguish lies from truth.
• Recall that people are more accurate at detecting deception by strangers than by friends.
• Explain the relationship between expressiveness and deception.
• Describe how cultural differences affect deception detection.
• Recall that people are more accurate at detecting deception within cultures than between
cultures.
• Explain the motivation impairment effect.
• Explain how low- and high-stakes lies affect deception detection.
• Describe the relationship between suspicion and deception detection.
• Describe the interpersonal deception theory.
• Explain the Othello error.
• Distinguish between interactive and noninteractive contexts
• Recognize when lies are more likely to succeed in interactive and noninteractive contexts.
• Identify why deception causes distress in close relationships.
In-Class Exercises
In-Class Exercise A: Detecting Prepared vs. Spontaneous Lies
1. Begin by identifying four student volunteers, two male and two female. Designate one male
and one female student as the “prepared team” and the others as the “spontaneous team.”
2. Give each student on the prepared team one of the half-page handouts below designated for
them. Have them read the instructions to themselves.
3. Give each student on the spontaneous team one of the half-page handouts below designated
for them. Have them read the instructions to themselves.
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4. Give all four volunteers the opportunity to ask you any questions about the activity out of
earshot from the rest of the class.
5. Give the rest of the class the handout below entitled “Spontaneous and Prepared Lies.”
6. Tell your class the following:
“I will be calling my volunteers up to the front of the classroom one at a time, and I will be
asking each of them four questions. After they answer each question, I want you to indicate
on your form whether or not you think they are being completely honest in their answer, and
then mark how confident you feel that you’re right. Each of the volunteers has been
instructed beforehand to give completely honest answers on either all of the questions, some
of the questions, or none of the questions.
“The first two volunteers have no idea what they are going to be asked. All they know is
which questions, if any, I have asked them to answer deceptively. These will be examples of
unplanned lies. The last two volunteers already know the questions I will be asking them and
which ones, if any, I have asked them to give deceptive answers to. These will be examples
of planned lies.
“At the end of the activity, we’ll go through and find out how accurate your answers were.
We will also be able to see whether you did any better at detecting the unplanned lies than
the planned ones.”
7. Call volunteers up one at a time (the spontaneous team first, then the prepared team). Have
volunteers introduce themselves and then ask each volunteer his or her set of questions (using
the instructor form, provided below). Allow time after each answer for students to mark their
responses. (It is often best if you don’t maintain eye contact with the volunteers while they
are answering their questions, as this will tend to make them look primarily at you, not at the
class. Since you will know ahead of time when the volunteers are being deceptive, it is also
important that you keep a neutral facial expression and tone of voice; otherwise, students will
attend to your own reaction to the volunteers’ answers in order to gauge their veracity.)
8. After all volunteers are finished, tell the class that you will now go through and check their
accuracy. Start with the first volunteer. Repeat that volunteer’s first question, remind the
class of his or her answer, then ask how many thought the answer was truthful versus
untruthful. Then ask the volunteer what the correct answer is. Repeat this with the remaining
questions and then with the remaining volunteers. For untruthful answers, ask the volunteer
to indicate how the answer was untruthful (e.g., Was it a complete fabrication? Did it omit
relevant information?)
9. Afterward, ask how many students got at least half of the items correct, then 75%, etc. Ask
how many did better at spotting the unplanned lies than the planned ones, and for those who
did, ask why they did. What behaviors did they notice, for instance, that gave them clues to
deception? Also, ask whether their level of confidence on each question seemed to have any
relationship with their accuracy. Were they more confident about answers they got right, for
instance?
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10. You can conclude the activity by asking the volunteers to indicate how they felt lying to the
class. Some students will find this activity to be nerve-wracking; others will find it to be an
amusing challenge. Ascertain whether the volunteers on the spontaneous team felt any more
nervous than those on the planned team, as one might expect.
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Half-Page Forms for Spontaneous Team
Copy this page and then cut out one of the forms below to give to each student on the
spontaneous team.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Volunteer 1 (spontaneous)
In this activity, I will ask you to introduce yourself to the class and then I will be asking you four
questions. I want you to give completely truthful answers to the first two questions.
On the third and fourth questions, I want you to give answers that are not completely truthful.
For these, you can use any form of deception you choose: You can give an answer that is entirely
made up; you can give some truthful details and fabricate others; you can leave out important
information that would change the nature of your answer; you can exaggerate; or, you can evade
the question. Try the best you can to make your performance as believable as possible.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Volunteer 2 (spontaneous)
In this activity, I will ask you to introduce yourself to the class and then I will be asking you four
questions. I want you to give completely truthful answers to the first and last questions.
On the second and third questions, I want you to give answers that are not completely truthful.
For these, you can use any form of deception you choose: You can give an answer that is entirely
made up; you can give some truthful details and fabricate others; you can leave out important
information that would change the nature of your answer; you can exaggerate; or, you can evade
the question. Try the best you can to make your performance as believable as possible.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
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Half-Page Forms for Planned Team
Copy this page and the next page and give each copy to each student on the planned team.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Volunteer 3 (planned)
In this activity, I will ask you to introduce yourself to the class and then I will be asking you four
questions. I want you to give a completely truthful answer to the first question.
On the second, third, and fourth questions, I want you to give answers that are not completely
truthful. For these, you can use any form of deception you choose: You can give an answer that
is entirely made up; you can give some truthful details and fabricate others; you can leave out
important information that would change the nature of your answer; you can exaggerate; or, you
can evade the question. Try the best you can to make your performance as believable as possible.
Here are your questions:
1. Tell us about the worst job you have ever had.
2. Who is the person you most admire, and why?
3. Why did you choose to attend this particular school?
4. If you had to pick one city anywhere in the world to live in for the rest of your life, what
would it be, and why?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Volunteer 4 (planned)
In this activity, I will ask you to introduce yourself to the class and then I will be asking you four
questions. I want you to give completely truthful answers to the first and third questions.
On the second and fourth questions, I want you to give answers that are not completely
truthful. For these, you can use any form of deception you choose: You can give an answer that
is entirely made up; you can give some truthful details and fabricate others; you can leave out
important information that would change the nature of your answer; you can exaggerate; or, you
can evade the question. Try the best you can to make your performance as believable as possible.
Here are your questions:
1. Tell us about the worst job you have ever had.
2. Who is the person you most admire, and why?
3. Why did you choose to attend this particular school?
4. If you had to pick one city anywhere in the world to live in for the rest of your life, what
would it be, and why?
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
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Class Handout: Spontaneous and Prepared Lies
In this activity, you will hear four of your classmates respond to four questions each. Some of the
answers you will hear will be completely truthful and others will not. For each answer, check
whether you think the answer is completely truthful or not completely truthful. Also, indicate
how confident you are in each assessment by circling the appropriate number from 1 to 7.
Volunteer 1
Question
Completely
truthful
Not completely
truthful
Not confident Very confident
1
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Volunteer 2
Question
Completely
truthful
Not completely
truthful
Not confident Very confident
1
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Volunteer 3
Question
Completely
truthful
Not completely
truthful
Not confident Very confident
1
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Volunteer 4
Question
Completely
truthful
Not completely
truthful
Not confident Very confident
1
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
____________
____________
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
After Activity
Number of correct items, out of 16 possible: ______________
Your name: ______________________________________________________________
Your student number: _________________________________
Today’s date: ____________________________
Instructor’s Form: Spontaneous and Prepared Lies
Volunteer 1 (Name ______________________________________)
This student has been instructed to give deceptive answers to the third and fourth questions. This
student does not know the questions you will be asking.
Question
Answer
1. What would be your ideal job, and why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
2. What do your parents do for a living?
______________________________________
______________________________________
3. What’s your favorite movie of all time, and
why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
4. What classes did you take last
quarter/semester?
______________________________________
______________________________________
Volunteer 2 (Name ______________________________________)
This student has been instructed to give deceptive answers to the second and third questions.
This student does not know the questions you will be asking.
Question
Answer
1. Why did you choose to attend this
particular school?
______________________________________
______________________________________
2. Tell us about the worst job you have ever
had.
______________________________________
______________________________________
3. What is your favorite subject in school, and
why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
4. How many siblings do you have, and
where are you in the birth order?
______________________________________
______________________________________
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Volunteer 3 (Name ______________________________________)
This student has been instructed to give deceptive answers to the second, third, and fourth
questions. This student knows the questions you will be asking.
Question
Answer
1. What would be your ideal job, and why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
2. Who is the person you most admire, and
why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
3. Why did you choose to attend this
particular school?
______________________________________
______________________________________
4. If you had to pick one city anywhere in the
world to live in for the rest of your life,
what would it be, and why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
Volunteer 4 (Name ______________________________________)
This student has been instructed to give deceptive answers to the second and fourth questions.
This student knows the questions you will be asking.
Question
Answer
1. What would be your ideal job, and why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
2. Who is the person you most admire, and
why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
3. Why did you choose to attend this
particular school?
______________________________________
______________________________________
4. If you had to pick one city anywhere in the
world to live in for the rest of your life,
what would it be, and why?
______________________________________
______________________________________
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In-Class Exercise B: Beliefs about Deception
1. Copy and distribute the Beliefs about Deception scale from Scholl and O’Hair, provided
below.
2. Have students complete the questionnaires in class and then hand them in. You might elect to
do this at the end of the class period before you begin the unit on deception, so that you can
incorporate their scores into your discussion of deception and so that students’ answers are
not influenced by your lecture material on deception.
3. Each scale produces four subscales:
1) Intentionality, or the belief that the person sometimes lies inadvertently
2) Deception is wrong, or the belief that there is never an acceptable excuse for lying
3) Acceptance of deception, or the belief that deception is a common communicative
practice
4) Upbringing, or the belief that the person’s attitude about deception came from his or
her role models
4. On each questionnaire, score each subscale by taking the average of the items shown here
(none of the items is reverse-scored):
Intentionality: items 1, 5, 7, 11, 13, and 17
Deception is wrong: items 2, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 18
Acceptance of deception: items 3, 9, 15, and 19
Upbringing: items 4, 10, and 16
5. Calculate the class average for each subscale. (If you are so inclined, conduct t-tests to see if
scores on any of the subscales differ significantly by sex. You might also conduct a repeated-
measures ANOVA to see if scores on the subscales differ significantly from each other.)
6. When you hand the questionnaires back to the class, share with your students the meanings
of each of the subscales and tell them how they scored, as a class, on each. If you ran
descriptive statistics, share those results too.
7. This can be a useful exercise to initiate a discussion on students’ beliefs about deception and
to address the moral or ethical issues surrounding it. Often, it is best to acknowledge and
discuss students’ ethical concerns about deception before getting into the lecture material.
8. The source citation for the Beliefs about Deception Scale is: Scholl, J. C., & O’Hair, D.
(2005). Uncovering beliefs about deceptive communication. Communication Quarterly, 53,
377–399.
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Beliefs about Deception
This exercise addresses some of your beliefs about interpersonal deception. For each statement
below, indicate how much you agree or disagree with it by circling the appropriate number.
Strongly Strongly
disagree agree
1. There are times when I can be in the middle of saying
something and suddenly realize that I was not telling the
truth.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. I would rather not use deception even if it is to benefit the
person I am deceiving.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. Deception is a common communication practice.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4. I was brought up knowing right from wrong when it comes to
deception.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5. Sometimes I realize that I have deceived someone else only
after I have done it.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. I don’t see deception as an acceptable form of
communication.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. Sometimes I inadvertently deceive others.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. My moral stance tells me that deception is never okay.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. People use deception for all sorts of reasons.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. I had good role models for understanding the consequences of
deception.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11. In spite of my best intentions, I sometimes realize that I have
deceived someone.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. Deceiving someone else is seldom justified.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
13. I have caught myself being untruthful without intending to be.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
14. I cannot bring myself to deceive others even if it’s socially
justified.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
15. I know people who use deception in many circumstances.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
16. My family taught me a lot about whether deception is right or
wrong.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
17. I have deceived someone else without being aware that I was
doing it.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
18. I try very hard not to use deception.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19. Sometimes people feel they have no choice but to deceive.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In-Class Exercise C: Polygraphy Presentation
1. Invite a trained polygraph examiner to do a guest lecture in class. Often, you can find one
either in your school’s psychology department or in your school’s police department. If not,
many large cities have a school of polygraphy; you could find a listing in the phone book and
invite an instructor from that school. A guest lecturer could explain how a polygraph
machine works, what the most common uses of polygraphy are, what types of questions a
polygraph interview consists of, and some of the strengths and weakness of polygraphy as a
method of lie detection.
2. Many students hear bits of folk wisdom about how to “beat” a polygraph (e.g., put a
thumbtack in your shoe, do math problems in your head while answering, tense your
muscles). In preparation for the guest lecture, you might ask students to write down these
various “techniques” and ask the lecturer to address some of them.
3. Many polygraph examiners or researchers may also be able to bring portable polygraph
equipment with them to a lecture, allowing for a live demonstration.
Out-of-Class Exercises
Out-of-Class Exercise A: Deception Diary
1. Over the course of a few days, have students keep a deception diary. For each day, have
students keep track of every time they lie, exaggerate, or mislead. For each instance, they
should record who they were interacting with, what false belief or impression they were
trying to create, and the behaviors they used to create that false belief or impression.
2. At the end of the diary period, students should write a short paper in which they summarize
the entries in their deception diaries and categorize their deceptive efforts according to
1) the motives behind their lies; 2) the behaviors they used to lie; and, 3) the people they lied
to. You might also have students reflect on what they learned about themselves and their
behavior patterns by doing this exercise.
3. It is up to you whether to have students hand in their actual diaries or just their papers. If
students know you will be reading their deception diaries, they may be more likely to edit
them (particularly if any of their deceptive attempts during that period involved you). On the
other hand, if students know you will not be seeing their deception diaries, they may be
tempted to forgo the diary exercise and simply fabricate their entries for the purpose of
writing their papers.
Out-of-Class Exercise B: Naïve Theories of Deception
1. Have students interview a predetermined number of people about their beliefs regarding
deception detection. Students should ask participants what percentage of the time they think
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they can tell when they’re being lied to. They should also ask them to identify the top five or
six behaviors they look for as clues to deception.
2. Students should then compile the information from their interviews and summarize it. What
was the average detection ability people claimed to have? What was the range? Did it seem
to vary by age or by sex? What were the most commonly cited behavioral clues to deception?
They should then compare these findings with those identified in deception research, to
determine how realistic or unrealistic the perceptions of their participants were.
3. This information could be presented in the form of a paper and/or in the form of a class
presentation. The presentation could include audio-visual materials describing the sample,
interviewing process, and findings.