Can you spot liars? David Buller and Judee Burgoon believe that we are poor at spotting liars, and they explained why in this Interpersonal Deception theory.

1. INTERPERSONAL
DECEPTION
THEORY
B Y DAV I D B U L L E R A N D J U D E E B U R G O O N

2. KEY NAMES AND TERMS
• David Buller
• Judee Burgoon
• Deception
• Truth Bias
• Implied Social Contract
• Interactivity
• Relational Familiarity
• RelationalValence
• Falsification
• Concealment
• Equivocation
• Self references
• Group references

3. SPOT THE LIARS:
ARE YOU READY
TO TAKE
THE CHALLENGE?

4. DECEPTION
An intentional act in which senders knowingly
transmit messages to foster a false belief or
interpretation by the receiver.

8. WHY DID THE PEOPLE DOUBT
THE TRUTHFULNESS OF
NICOLE’S STATEMENTS?
What were their bases for concluding that Nicole was deceiving the court?

10. THE MOUTH
COVER
THE ITCHY
NOSE
THE NOSE
TOUCH

11. THE EYE RUB THE EAR GRAB
Some men rub their eyes vigorously;
others do look away.

12. THE NECK
SCRATCH
THE COLLAR
PULL
A person scratches an average of 5 times

13. FINGERS-IN-THE-MOUTH

14. DAVID BULLER
AND JUDEE
BURGOON
Conducted over two-dozen
experiments in which they
asked participants to
deceive another person.
Human beings are rather
poor lie detectors.

15. WHY DO PEOPLE LIE?

16. PEOPLE OFTEN FIND THEMSELVES IN SITUATIONS
WHERE THEY MAKE STATEMENTS THAT ARE LESS
THAN COMPLETELY HONEST IN ORDER:
•To avoid hurting or offending another person
• To emphasize their best qualities
• To avoid getting into a conflict
• To speed up or slow down a relationship

17. 2 CORE IDEAS ON IDT
1. Interpersonal communication is interactive.
2. Strategic deception demands mental effort.
ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS = deceiver and receiver
INTERACTIVITY AFFECTS ABILITYTO DISTINGUISHTRUTH.
A successful deceiver must consciously manipulate information to create a plausible
message, present it in a sincere manner, monitor reactions, prepare follow-up responses, and
get ready for damage control of a tarnished image-all at the same time.

18. SAMPLE SCENARIO:
Dating for nearly 3 years
Feel quite close with each other
“long-distance relationship”
S/he’s quite jealous and possessive.
You see each other only occasionally.
Call each other every Sunday
Talk for over an hour
“couples only” party on a Saturday night
S/he couldn’t make it that weekend.
Ask someone from your comm class
You had a great time at the party.

19. "I decided to come
down and surprise you.
1 tried calling you all
last night, but you
weren't around.
What were you doing?"

20. 3 TYPES OF
DECEPTION
I N T E R P E R S O N A L D E C E P T I O N T H E O RY

21. FALSIFICATION

22. “What were you doing?"
“ I was at the library getting ready
for my comm theory exam."

23. CONCEALMENT

24. “What were you doing?"
"1 went to a party at a friend's apartment."

25. EQUIVOCATION

26. “What were you doing?"
"1 went out for a while."

27. 4 CHARACTERISTICS OF MESSAGE
THAT REFLECT STRATEGIC
INTENT:
•Uncertainty and vagueness
•Nonimmediacy, reticence, and withdrawal
•Disassociation
•Image- and relationship-protecting behavior

28. Uncertainty and vagueness
There is nothing concrete for
the receiver to challenge.
USE OF PASSIVE
VOICE:
"It was impossible to
get things done before
then.”

29. Nonimmediacy, reticence, and withdrawal
You want to remove yourself from the situation.
YOU MAY:
Turn away.
Sit farther from the receiver.
Or say:“It’s already finished.”

30. Disassociation
You want to DISTANCE yourself
from what is done.
You may shift the responsibility to
others.
“We all went out to the party that
night.”
“Everybody could party once in a
while.”

31. Image- and relationship-protecting behavior
You suppress any cue
of deception
(“leakage”).
"It appears that smiling may be
a simple, all-purpose strategy enacted to
cover up deceit.”

32. THANK YOU