Interpersonal Deception Theory. Essay - 1,973 words

Interpersonal Deception Theory. The Interpersonal Deception Theory is the theory defining the reasons people lie and the mechanisms of lie. Sometimes people get into situations when they are not honest. Three deceptions forms could be defined. They are falsification, concealment and equivocation. These are three main issues that constitute the basis for the deception Some scholars define a deception to be the process by which actions are made to induce erroneous inferences to take advantage of them1. The process of deception is an interactive one.


The deception itself is a way of communication and that means it presupposes the presence of at least two parties. The deceptive message is generated during the process of communication. The deceivers have the aim to deceive the counterparty that is why they are active in their attempts2. The deceivers trace the reaction of the deceived and constantly change their message in order to make the information more convincing. This communication process requires high level of communication of both parties. The deceivers should apply their utmost abilities in order to present the false information as reality and their counterpart should do their best to define the lie. Such act of deception requires high skills of communication.


Another factor that may affect the process of deception is the relation between the individuals on the level of planning. The act of deception can not be carried out unprepared3. The spontaneous deceptive acts fail. As it was stated above a person who is supposed to be deceived is ready to such acts and that is why the action may be successful if it is planned properly. The relation between the parties is the key factor in the act of deception. The deceptive act towards the partner is more difficult to carry out than towards the stranger or a relative4.


This definition is true because the partnership relations are formalized by certain rules and regulations. Most of the communications between the partners are focused on business. In its turn such communications are regulated by the legal documents and it is very difficult to define the border line between just deception and the law or other regulations violations. The problem of the detection of deception is the problem connected with a number of factors. Thus, according to Burgoon and Buller5 the level of perception of the lie depends upon the level of the social awareness of the receiver. The act of deception is going on both on the verbal and non verbal level.


The social awareness of the sender and receiver is the key factor for both parties. The more socially skillful the sender the more social skills should be applied to detect the deception. Non verbal means are the means to support the verbal part of deception. The failure of deception depends upon the detection. As it was noted above the deception detection requires the skills which are no less developed than those used by the liars. Deception Detection.


The problem of the lie detection is the psychological problem. Some people think the lie detection is the problem of our everyday experience. If someone is asked how the liar may be detected most of the people answer: Liars avert their gaze6. The studies have shown that this indication is not correct and sometimes is not associated with lying. The psychologists have been studying the liars behavior in order to work out common approach to the lie detection. It is understandable that the society needs to get some unified tool to define the liars.


The scientists have been testing the physiological symptoms of the liars like hands trembling, sweetening, voice changes etc. They have come to a conclusion there is no unified test to define the liar. Some liars may manifest certain physiological signals, but these signals are not unique and some liars may not express them at all. If certain criteria of the behavioral changes are accepted then the communication without such changes may be assumed as truth which is incorrect. The laboratory studies of lie detection are artificial and do not reflect the real state of things and therefore can not be accepted unconditionally. The researchers noticed that the non verbal means are priority over the verbal ones while defining the liars7.


So the main problem in the lie detection is the separation the fiction from the facts. This problem is very often faced by the police while investigating the crimes. The study of the physical manifestation of the tested person is difficult and may be applied as one of the numerous factors only. People of various cultures, races and backgrounds may express the lie in different ways that is why such investigation is very important to conduct in the USA, a country inhabited by the people of various cultures and backgrounds. Avinoam Sapir, a former Israeli police lieutenant has introduced the SCAN system of the deception detection8. The system is based on a chain of questions from the simple ones to more complicated questions concerning the police interrogation.


The system considers both verbal indications and non verbal ones. The experimental psychological researches show that the peoples ability to distinguish the lie from the truth is poor9. People are more accurate to detect the truths than the lies. Ordinary people who are unprofessional fail to define the lie and tend to believe easier because nobody wants to accept lie. So the person in normal situation is ready to accept the information and not to detect the lie. Special services as well as police face the necessity to define the lie. The people normally can not accept the information in the full scope and then analyze it professionally. Sometimes people are led by own feelings, perceptions and desire to get the truth.


The professional lie detectors rely on the behavior of the communicators. At the same time the professionals realize that the behavioral stereotypes may mislead the investigator. The problem of the professional liar detectors became more significant during the last years and the growth of the n ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: deception, health care, detection, liar, deceptive

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