Acting Like a Liar: An Experimental Test of the Self-Presentational Theory of Deception

Abstract We present a study designed to directly test the self-presentational theory of deception. Senders ( N = 12) recorded true and false statements about an outing they had actually gone on or pretended to have gone on. Crucially, when providing these statements, they were asked to do so in either the manner of a truth teller or the manner of a liar. Receivers ( N = 223) made dichotomous truth/lie credibility judgements of these video recorded statements. In line with the self-presentational theory of deception, the manner in which people presented their statements was a greater predictor of credibility judgements than the veracity of the statements. Specifically, 61% of senders were judged as truthful when intentionally acting in an honest manner, compared to 39% when acting in a deceitful manner (OR = 2.6, p <.001). In contrast, only 52% of senders were judged as truthful when providing a true statement, compared to 48% when providing a false statement (OR = 1.3, p =.303). Exploratory analyses show that some senders were considerably better than others at self-presenting. The study provides strong and direct support for the self-presentational theory of deception, showing that people can intentionally control their behavior to appear as honest and, indeed, deceptive.