Did You Just Lie to Me? Deception Detection in Face to Face versus Computer Mediated Communication

ABSTRACT

Individuals’ deception detection ability during either a face-to-face (FtF) interaction or through computer-mediated communication (CMC) was explored under more naturalistic conditions where they were not forewarned that deception may be involved. Participants discussed a social issue either in a room together or by instant messaging from separate rooms. Prior to discussion, some participants were asked to deceive their partner regarding their actual opinion on the issue. Results showed that mode of communication did not influence participants’ deception detection accuracy rate, nor their truth bias. Regardless of mode of communication, deceptive participants experienced the same level of physiological arousal as the non-deceivers. In contrast, deceivers reported experiencing higher levels of anxiety but only in the FtF condition. Findings highlight how for different communication modalities, a multitude of interactive factors may influence deception detection.

KEYWORDS:

• arousal
• communication modality
• deception detection
• online communication
• truth bias

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7UNBM.

Open scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Materials. The materials are openly accessible at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7UNBM.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Mount Saint Vincent University [41-0-200288].

Notes on contributors

Michelle Eskritt

Michelle Eskritt is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Mount Saint Vincent University. She researches the development of nonverbal communication as well as cognitive offloading.

Brandon Fraser

Brandon Fraser conducted some of the data in the present article as part of his honours in Psychology at Mount Saint Vincent University. He is now a physiotherapist.

Sandra Bosacki

Sandra Bosacki is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Brock University. She does research on socioemotional development.