How people [try to] detect lies in everyday life

Abstract

Laboratory-based deception-detection experiments often fail to capture the features of everyday life lie detection among ordinary citizens. In this study, we examined how people [try to] detect deception in real life. Over 10 weeks, every time the participants felt they had detected a lie, they filled in an online survey. Results show that, in everyday life, many lies are detected unexpectedly, often from non-behavioral indicators, that people suspecting deception search for both behavioral cues and non-behavioral information, but that non-behavioral information is more useful to detect deception. The study addresses aspects unexplored in prior studies on everyday life lie detection, provides new insights, and has theoretical implications.