Truth Biases and Aroused Suspicion in Relational Deception

Abstract

Relatively stable perceptions of truthfulness tend to develop in relationships, although situations may arise causing partners to become suspicious of one another. The truth bias that grows as relationships develop was conceptualized as a cognitive heuristic for judging a partner's veracity. This study of relational partners investigates the influence of the truth bias and aroused suspicion on judgments of truthfulness. Using a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design, one partner was assigned the role of interviewee who responded either truthfully or deceptively to questions about his or her emotional reactions to a pair of film clips. The other partner was assigned to the role of an interviewer who was either suspicious or not suspicious and made judgments about his or her partner's veracity. Findings were consistent with the truth bias hypothesis. Partners in well-developed relationships demonstrated a strong truth bias, resulting in greater judgments of truthfulness and (somewhat) lower detection accuracy. Suspicion aroused by a third party served to offset this heuristic and lead to greater judgments of deceptiveness. The implications of these findings for research on social cognition and deceptive communication are discussed.

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