Deceptive Behavior in Social Relationships: A Consequence of Violated Expectations

Deceptive behavior is viewed as a mechanism by which a threat to the maintenance of a social relationship is temporarily resolved. In this study, we investigated two social relationships: parent-child and employer-employee. Eighty American students evaluated 32 behaviors from the perspective of a son or daughter and from the perspective of an employee. The students made judgments regarding the extent to which the employer and the parent expected them to avoid engaging in certain behaviors, and the extent to which they would lie about involvement in each behavior. Students also indicated how guilty they would feel about lying. Results indicated that the students used deception when their behavior violated the perceived expectancy of their role partner. The students experienced guilt, however, only with a violation of their own expectations, their role partner's expectations, and a match between their own and their role partner's expectations.