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Liar, Liar, Hard Drive on Fire: How Media Context Affects Lying Behavior
Author(s) -
ZIMBLER MATTITIYAHU,
FELDMAN ROBERT S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00827.x
Subject(s) - deception , lying , psychology , social psychology , face (sociological concept) , context (archaeology) , social media , computer mediated communication , lie detection , normative , face to face , internet privacy , computer science , the internet , linguistics , epistemology , world wide web , medicine , radiology , paleontology , philosophy , biology
This study investigated frequency of deception when getting to know a stranger face to face or using computer‐mediated technologies. Same‐sex pairs of undergraduate participants engaged in 15‐min conversations using e‐mail, instant messenger, or speaking face to face. Afterward, target participants reviewed transcripts of their conversations and recorded inaccuracies. The results showed increased deception in the computer conditions, compared to the face‐to‐face condition, with the most lies found in e‐mail messages. Lie content, rationale, and type were also affected by the communication medium. The findings suggest that it may be normative to distort reality online.