Interpersonal Deception Theory

1
Interpersonal Deception Theory

• of David Buller and Judee Burgoon
• chapter 7, Em Griffin (4th ed.)

2
Verbal Deceit

• Three strategies to not telling the truth

1. Falsification (a lie, creates a fiction)
2. Concealment (part truth, hides a secret)
3. Equivocation (vague, dodges the issue)
3
Getting Away with Deceit

• Could you tell if someone is lying to you?
• Research suggests we are not too good at
  detecting deception
• Deception research shows that the nonverbal cues
  people look to for detection (looking in the eye,
  hurried speech, and nervous laughter) are not
  reliable indicators of deception
• A chuckling, fast -talking person who avoids eye
  contact is just as likely to be telling the truth
  as someone who displays the socially accepted
  signs of sincerity

4
Research Approach

• Buller Burgoon reject the standard experimental
  approach that has Ss listening or viewing actors
  act out scripted messages to detect deception
• They think that the fuller context of
  interpsersonal communication is crucial to the
  communication event
• Interpersonal Deception Theory is the result of
  this thinking that context is crucial

5
Key Propositions in the Interpersonal Deception
Theory

• What deceivers and respondents think and do
  varies according to the amount of interactive
  give-and-take thats possible in the situation
• What deceivers and respondents think and do
  varies according to how well they know and like
  each other
• Deceivers make more strategic moves and leak more
  nonverbal cues than truth tellers
• With increased interaction, deceivers make more
  strategic moves and display less leakage
• Deceivers and respondents expectation for
  honesty (truth bias) is positively linked with
  interactivity and relational warmth for more,
  see pp. 92 - 93

6
Two Core Ideas

• 1. Interpersonal Communication is Interactive
• People are constantly adjusting their behavior
  toward one another in response to feedback
• Interaction rather than individual behavior is at
  the core of the theory

7
Two Core Ideas

• 2. Strategic Deception Demands Mental Effort
• A successful deceiver must manipulate a lot of
  information
• At some point, the strategic requirements of
  deception could produce cognitive overload
• Leakage refers to the unconscious nonverbal cues
  that signal an internal state
• Griffin suggests that we think of a deceptive
  interaction we have taken part in, either as
  deceiver or respondent, and compare it to the
  propositions in Figure 7.1 (pp. 92-93)

8
Strategic Information Management

• Every deceptive act has at least 3 aims
• 1. To accomplish a specific task or goal
• 2. To establish or maintain a relationship with
  the respondent
• 3. To save face or sustain the image of one or
  both parties

9
Four Message Characteristics that Reflect
Strategic Intent

• 1. Uncertainty and Vagueness
• 2. Nonimmediacy, reticence, and withdrawal
• 3. Disassociation
• 4. Image-and relationship -protecting behavior

10
Message Characteristic of Strategic Intent

• Uncertainty and Vagueness
• Short (lack of detail) and noncommittal answers
  (I worked late speak in passive and
  indefinite ways (It was impossible to get things
  done before then

11
Nonimmediacy, reticence, and withdrawal

• The desire to be out of the situation--shows up
  in nonverbal actions to turn away, sit apart,
  lean back silence before answering, frequent
  pauses nonimmediacy (symbolically removing
  yourself from the situation) in words as well,
  e.g., changing tense from present to past

12
Disassociation

• A way of distancing yourself from what youve
  done
• shifting responsibility to others removing
  individual choice shared responsibility
  downplay the intensity of unwelcome news
  (sometimes) generally, sever the personal
  connection between the actor and the act of
  deception

13
Image- and relationship-protecting behavior

• To mask the cues that leak out despite their best
  efforts, deceivers try to appear extra sincere
• Deceivers in dialogue tend to nod in agreement
  when the respondent speaks, avoid interrupting,
  and smile frequently

14
Multiple Factors Deceivers Strategic Plan (p.
96)

• Plan-based activity increases when
• the situation is highly interactive (prop. 4)
• parties know each other well (prop. 8)
• the deceiver particularly fears discovery (prop.
  6)
• the deceivers motivation is selfish (prop. 7)
• the deceiver has good communication skills (prop.
  9)

15
LEAKAGE

• Why leakage occurs
• intense attempt to control information can
  produce too slick a performance
• lying causes physiological arousal
• the predominant felt emotions that accompany
  lying are guilt and anxiety--they are hard to
  cover
• cognitive overload in attending to so much and
  some behaviors leak out

16
Telltale Signs of Leakage (based on 35 leakage
studies)

• Unintentional nonverbals that usually accompany
  deception
• Fidgety hand movements
• Increased blinking and enlarged pupils
• Frequent speech errors (grammatical mistakes,
  repetitions, slips of the tongue
• Increased speech hesitations (awkward pauses,
  ahs, ers, ums)
• higher voice pitch
• Increased discrepancies between verbal and
  nonverbal channels

17
Respondents Dilemma

• Truth bias our expectation that people will tell
  the truth
• As in CMM theory (which is interpretive),
  Deception Theory (which is empirical) comes to
  the conclusion that persons-in conversation
  co-construct their own social realities. The
  construction project continues as the deceiver
  reacts to the respondents suspicions.

18
Putting Doubts to Rest Deceiver Adjustment to
Respondent Suspicion

• Deceivers are usually more successful at sensing
  suspicion than respondents are at spotting
  deception
• As soon as deceivers see signs of doubt, they
  change their behavior in a way intended to
  alleviate their partners distrust
• They usually reciprocate the mood and manner of
  the respondent

19
Putting Doubts to Rest

• Reciprocation A process of adjusting
  communication behavior to mesh with the other
• If the respondent shows high involvement, so does
  the deceiver
• If the respondent shows a nonchalant style, so
  does the deceiver
• Truth tellers react the same way to accusation,
  often resulting in more suspicion (p. 99)

20
A Final Note (from Griffins critique)

• When talking with others, I should doubt my
  ability to detect deception
• Most of us think we are great lie detectors
• This theory , Interpersonal Deception Theory,
  suggests we are not great lie detectors