DECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION

1. 12 DECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION © 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved.

2. What’s To Come • The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • The Diversity of Deceptive Acts • Communication Behaviors and Deception • Detecting Lies in Different Contexts

3. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception Deceptive communication occurs when a speaker transmits information knowingly and intentionally for the purpose of creating a false belief in the receiver.

4. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • Some lies are “high-stakes” lies • Forging a signature • Impersonating a licensed professional • Engaging in insider trading • Misrepresenting income on tax returns • Filing false insurance claims • Committing perjury

5. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • Some lies are “low-stakes” lies • Saying you’re happy to meet someone when you aren’t • Saying you have plans, to get out of an undesirable social commitment • Falsely complimenting someone’s appearance

6. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • To qualify as deception: • The sender must know the information is false • The sender must be transmitting the information on purpose • The sender must be attempting to make the receiver believe the information

7. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • When is a lie not a lie? • You aren’t lying if you believe what you’re saying is true • You’re not lying if you don’t intend for others to believe what you’re saying • You cannot lie to yourself

8. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • Deception is a common component of politeness • Politeness involves making others feel appreciated, whether the feeling is genuine or not • Unedited honestly would be seen as highly impolite

9. The Nature of Interpersonal Deception • Deception is common in online communication • Many people are deceptive about their identities or personal characteristics online • The disinhibition effect is one possible reason why that is the case

10. The Diversity of Deceptive Acts • Some of the reasons why people deceive • To benefit the hearer • To help them get to know someone • To protect their privacy • To avoid conflict • To make themselves look better • To help them avoid punishment • To protect them from distress

11. The Diversity of Deceptive Acts • Some deceptive acts are acts of simulation • Falsification: communicating false information as though it were true • Exaggeration: overstating something that is true in principle

12. The Diversity of Deceptive Acts • Some deceptive acts are acts of dissimulation • Omission: leaving out parts of a story to create a false impression • Equivocation: making ambiguous statements to give the false impression that one has said something one hasn’t

13. Communication Behaviors and Deception • Detecting deception is difficult • Many people look for the wrong cues—and ignore the right cues—when they believe they are being lied to • Our truth bias causes us to believe most of what we hear

14. Communication Behaviors and Deception • Some reliable cues to deception • Information inconsistency • Increased speech errors • Increased vocal pitch • Increased blinking and pupil dilation • Increased use of false smiles • Decreased body movement

15. Detecting Lies in Different Contexts • When you suspect deception, remember that… • Familiarity affects deception success • Expressive people are better liars • Culture matters, but only sometimes

16. Detecting Lies in Different Contexts • When you suspect deception, remember that… • Motivation to succeed at lying doesn’t always help • Suspicion may not improve your detection ability • Non-interactive contexts are best for detecting deception