Behavioral Cues as Indicators of Deception in Structured Employment Interviews

Two studies were conducted to examine the use of behavioral cues to identify deception within structured interviews. In Study 1, participants engaged in mock interviews in which they were instructed to lie on specific questions that varied by person. Trained coders evaluated the presence and extent of deception cues in each videotaped response. Nine cues predicted responses as expected, demonstrating that, with careful scrutiny, it is possible to detect deception. In Study 2, participants, either informed or uninformed regarding deception cues, viewed five interviews and evaluated responses as being honest or deceptive. Participants also rated overall interview performance. Participants were unable to accurately distinguish lies from truths. Nevertheless, performance ratings differed on the basis of rater perceptions of truthfulness.     

说谎的非言语视觉线索

说谎是一种非常普遍的社会现象。及时有效地识别说谎, 在人际交往和司法安防领域都具有十分重要的意义。根据说谎的自主性, 将说谎研究的实验范式分为被动说谎范式、主动说谎范式和混合说谎范式三大类。个体说谎时具有较高的认知负荷、较强的情绪唤醒和刻意的自我控制等心理活动特点, 这些心理活动会导致眼睛运动、面部表情、姿态动作等非言语视觉线索的变化, 且非言语视觉线索存在个体差异。未来研究应深入考察说谎的内在心理机制以及非言语视觉线索的心理意义, 加强真实情境下说谎行为的研究, 并借助新技术实现对非言语视觉线索的精准测量和分析。     

基于语言内容的谎言识别

语言内容线索是识别谎言的三种线索之一, 主要分为基于标准的内容分析和真实监控两个模型。语言内容线索模型主要有基于标准的内容分析、真实监控、人际欺骗理论和语言接近度等4种, 这些模型在理论基础、识别标准和识别有效性上各不相同。此外, 年龄、社会技能、幻想倾向、文化差异、事件熟悉度、人际互动和询问策略等因素都会影响语言内容线索的有效性。未来的研究需要从整合模型、发展谎言线索、量化线索等方面进一步完善语言内容线索, 并通过发展主动识别技巧, 结合非语言行为线索以提高语言内容线索识别谎言的正确率。     

Children's Use of Gaze and Limb Movement Cues to Infer Deception

A sample of 96 children from kindergarten, 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades judged the truthfulness of peers who varied in gaze and limb movement while providing verbal communications. Results indicated that children attributed greater lying to the peers who displayed indirect rather than direct gaze and active rather than nonactive limb movement. The use of these cues was more evident in 4th- and 6th-grade children than it was in kindergarten and 2nd-grade children. Pilot studies indicated that adults and children as young as 5-6 years of age associated indirect gaze and active limb movement with anxiety. The findings are discussed with respect to children's theory of mind, concepts of lying, understanding of display rules, and learning of physiological cues associated with deception.     

Subjective Cues to Deception/Honesty in a High Stakes Situation: An Exploratory Approach

ABSTRACT. The low ecological validity of much of the research on deception detection is a limitation recognized by researchers in the field. Consequently, the present studies investigated subjective cues to deception using the real life, high stakes situation of people making public appeals for help with missing or murdered relatives. It was expected that cues related to affect would be particularly salient in this context. Study 1 was a qualitative investigation identifying cues to deception reportedly used by people accurate at detecting deception. Studies 2 and 3 were then empirical investigations that mainly employed the cues reported in Study 1. A number of subjective cues were found to discriminate between honest and deceptive appeals, including some previously unidentified cues, and cues likely to be context-specific. Most could be categorized under the themes of authenticity of emotion, and negative and positive affective reactions to the appealer. It is concluded that some cues to deception may emerge only in real life, high stakes situations; however, it is argued that some of these may be influenced by observers’ perceptions of the characteristics of offenders, rather than acts of deception per se.     

Cognitive Lie Detection: Response Time and Consistency of Answers as Cues to Deception

Purpose  The purpose of this study was to test a new cognitive lie detection method, time restricted integrity confirmation (Tri-Con), which uses response time and inconsistencies across answers as cues to deception. Design/methodology/approach   Data were obtained from two samples of students enrolled in psychology classes (n = 96 for Experiment 1, n = 99 for Experiment 2). The experimental task required students to lie or tell the truth to questions probing biodata under time restriction. The foci of questions (such as Academics or Employment History) were chosen because of their relevance to participants’ lives. Findings  Tri-Con was able to distinguish between truth tellers and liars after controlling for individual differences. In one experiment, liar-truth teller classification accuracies reached 89%. Mean response times and answer consistency can be used to distinguish those who lie from those who tell the truth. Implications  Research on cognitive-based lie detectors, such as Tri-Con, hold the potential for developing reliable and valid methods of screening out employees likely to engage in misconduct and providing deceptive answers to screening questions. A cognitive lie detector would constitute a paradigm shift away from the polygraph, and could be used in tandem with integrity tests. Originality/value   This study was a preliminary test of a cognitive lie detection method based on a model of cognitive events (the Activation-Decision-Construction model) when people answer questions deceptively. It constitutes a step in translating laboratory-based cognitive research into applied technologies for the real world detection of lying, including lying that occurs during pre-employment screening. Received and reviewed by former editor, George Neuman.     

The Employment Interview

In view of the continued reliance on personal interviews to select employees, the author suggests guidelines that will lead to increased validity of the interview process.     

Teaching Employment Interview Skills to Unemployed Adults

This study evaluates the effects of a behaviorally based textbook on the performance of employment interview skills by unemployed adults.     

Linguistic Cues of Deception Across Multiple Language Groups in a Mock Crime Context

A recent study showed that specific linguistic and grammatical features of a technique commonly referred to as statement analysis are applicable across different language groups. One limitation of that study was that it used an eyewitness crime video paradigm, which might be different from writing a statement after committing an actual criminal act. We remedied that limitation by using a mock crime paradigm. In this study, three language groups (English, Spanish, and Chinese) produced statements after committing a mock crime, taking a check, in an experimental context. Certain linguistic features significantly discriminated truths from lies similarly across the different language groups, suggesting that statement analysis might be applicable as a reliable indicator of deception across languages. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonverbal indicators of Affect and Deception in an Interview Setting1

A study was conducted to identify codes of nonverbal behavior which could be used by interviewers in a standard field interview to systematically assess deception and emotional states of respondents. Ten male and 10 female subjects were interviewed on topics that had been pretested to arouse in them pleasant involvement, passivity, and unpleasant involvement. Subjects were also instructed to lie to the interviewer on issues of importance to them. Eye contact was measured by observation through a one-way mirror. Smiles, gestures, self-manipulations and postural shifts were scored from videotapes of the interview. The most distinctive patterns of nonverbal cues occurred with unpleasant-involvement and deception questions. The former state was characterized by increases in smiling, self-manipulations, and postural shifts. Deception responses were marked by decreases in smiling and increases in self-manipulations and postural shifts. Results also suggested that eye contact functioned as an intensifier of affect.     

A Model of Faking Likelihood in the Employment Interview

There has been surprisingly little research on faking in the employment interview, despite the fact that professional judgment would suggest that faking might occur in the interview. Based on a review of the literature on faking in personality tests and the literature on deception, we propose a model of faking during an employment interview and develop 19 testable propositions to guide future research. We argue that faking is a function of capacity, willingness, and opportunity to fake. Structured interviews provide less opportunity for intentional distortion; however, some components of structure may actually increase faking. Finally, job candidates distort their responses in job desirable ways.     

Review of Research on Age Discrimination in the Employment Interview

This paper reviews the research literature on age discrimination in the employment interview and related contexts. Twenty one studies were identified which explored whether age discrimination occurs within the context of the employment interview since the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was put into law. Sixteen studies were conducted in laboratory settings. It was concluded that evidence of age discrimination in the employment interview is commonly observed in laboratory studies which do not assess the influence of other job-relevant characteristics. Laboratory studies may create too much artificiality, where the impact of qualifications is artificially minimized and the impact of irrelevant factors like age are maximized. Only 5 of the 21 studies were conducted in the field, but they found far less consequential age discrimination in the employment interview.     

The Role of Applicant Nonverbal Communication in the Employment Interview

This research examined the effects that the nonverbal behavior of job applicants had on subsequent hiring evaluations. Interviewees (n = 32) were instructed to use one of four styles of nonverbal behavior during the recording of short job interviews with a standard content. The videotaped interviews were watched by behavior raters (n = 22), who assessed nonverbal-cue usage, and by judges (n = 50), who evaluated the applicants as prospective employees. The applicants were also rated by judges (n = 30) for physical attractiveness. Results supported the hypothesis that nonverbal behavior in the job interview operates as subtle reinforcement. Implications for job-counseling programs are discussed.     

The Validity of the Employment Interview: A Meta-Analysis

The interview is the most widely used personnel selection method, but has revealed low reliability and validity compared with other selection methods (Mayfield 1964; Ulrich and Trumbo 1965; Schmitt 1976; Arvey 1979). Thirty-one studies on the validity of the interview were meta-analyzed. The result was an average validity coefficient of .27. The estimated true validity of the interview was calculated to be .38. These values indicated that the interview has moderate validity as a personnel selection device. Six characteristics of the interview were also examined in relation to the validity of the interview: structure of the interview; number of interviewers; length of the interview; gender of the applicant pool; blue-collar/white-collar jobs; and use of college students versus job applicants. The six study characteristics accounted for 30.9% of the variance in the validity of the interview. Structure of the interview appeared to be the only characteristic that moderated the validity of the interview. The relationship of this study to other meta-analyses of the employment interview is discussed.     

An Empirical Review of the Employment Interview Construct Literature

The purpose of this paper is to summarize available empirical research on the association between employment interview ratings and various construct measures using a theoretical model developed as part of the study. The model posits 3 main sources of construct‐related variance in interview ratings: job‐related interview content (e.g., job knowledge), interviewee performance (e.g., impression management tactics), and personal/demographic characteristics (e.g., candidate attractiveness). Results suggest some potentially important findings, including that the mean correlation with interview ratings is twice as large for constructs related to interviewee performance as it is for constructs pertaining to job‐related interview content. Directions for future construct research are also identified. For instance, despite being central to the interpersonal make‐up of the candidates, research regarding the influence of interests, goals, and values on interview ratings is almost nonexistent.     

The Employment Interview: A Self-Validation Model

I relate two subjects—speech communication and employment interviewing—by applying a developmental theory of interpersonal communication to the initial job interview. Since I view an employment interview as symbolic interaction, I provide a self-validation model that is analogous to interpersonal perception theory. I suggest the usefulness of the model by describing how interviewers and job applicants can enhance their interviewing skills.     

Early versus Late Disclosure of Evidence: Effects on Verbal Cues to Deception,Confessions, and Lie Catchers' Accuracy

The strategic use of evidence (SUE)—a method of using case information to elicit different verbal responses from guilty and innocent suspects—has been shown to increase cues to deception and lie detection accuracy. This study manipulated the timing of evidence presentation to determine its effect on cues to deception, lie detection accuracy, and confession rates. Liars were less consistent with the evidence, and SUE was associated with higher lie detection accuracy. Results showed no difference between early and late disclosure of evidence on suspects' confession rates, nor on the diagnosticity of the confessions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.