The research investigated the hypothesis that having a personal relationship with someone improves one’s ability to detect lies in verbal statements. In Study 1, we found that people reported higher levels of confidence in their ability to detect lies told by someone close to them versus a stranger. In Study 2, we conducted a lie detection experiment with additional participants. The results indicated that having a personal relationship with the storyteller did not lead to significantly higher accuracy. However, additional analyses showed that accuracy was significantly predicted by how often the storyteller reported lying in everyday life and the amount of time the storyteller and story judge spent together each week. The results are consistent with the view that behavioral cues are produced during lying, and success in lie detection can occur when one becomes skilled at perceiving those cues; however, individuals can vary in their skill level.


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Faculty Supervisor: Shelia M. Kennison, Oklahoma State University

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