Question 1

How much of a role does the perceived authority of the person stating the untruth play into one believing it? i.e. person stating the untruth is POTUS, younger sibling, stranger in a suit, unkempt stranger...

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

It surely plays some role, but may vary from person-to-person. Generally people who see human relations in terms of status and hierarchy are more likely to believe something because an authority says it. People higher on the trait openness are less susceptible.

Question 2

Some social psych experts believe we look to warmth & intelligence most to determine one's 'likeability'. Warmth to indicate friend or foe, intelligence to indicate how much help/damage can be done to us. Is there a mix of these characteristics that make someone most believable?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

I have an idea I call the BQ (believability quotient ) that I cover in chapter 13 of my book Duped. Likability is a big part of it, but also other things like communication fluency, composure, a consistent demeanor etc.  Warmth, intelligence, and likability can all make people more credible and believable.

Question 3

Since patterns in lying can be generalized to some degree, can people improve their ability to detect lies? And does an inflated/underinflated belief in ability to detect lies accurately increase the length of time we 'hold on to' an untruth, even when presented with evidence to the contrary?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

People can improve their ability to detect lies. I cover 5 ways in chapter 14 of my book Duped. Generally people over-estimate their lie detection ability.  Generally, the more confident we are, the less like we are to recognize an error.

Question 4

If a teenager is a pathological liar, is this a sign of a later-emerging personality disorder?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

That is a little out of my expertise. I could be, but it might also be something they mature of out of. In general, teens lie about twice as often as college students, and college students lie more than older adults.  See https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2013.806254  also https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.06.007

Question 5

What differentiates normal lying and pathological lying?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Good question.  Hard question. People disagree about this.  Here is what i think. Pathological liars lie more than others and without apparent reason and with little regard for getting caught. Pathological liars will lie even when the truth would work better for them.

Question 6

Is persuasion a form of lying?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

No, but lying can be used to persuade. So can real facts and sound logical argument. In my view, the best persuasion is honest and seeks to change others minds with sound evidence and reasoning.

Question 7

Is it lying if you believe you are telling the truth?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Most people, especially most experts say no.  Most definitions of lying require knowing what you say is false to intentionally mislead.  But not everyone agrees; for example, see Robert Trivers book The Folly of Fools.  My book Duped has a whole chapter on defining lying and deception and some of the difficulties and disagreements involved.

Question 8

Why do we lie?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

The short answer is we lie when the truth is a problem. When what we know to be the case conflicts with our communication goals, we may to deceive. Deception can be understood as problem solving. There is a whole chapter in my book Duped on the issue, or you might see:  
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2015.1137079

Question 9

What is the difference between lying and confabulation?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

I think as most people use the words, lying is knowing and intentional, while confabulation is an "honest" memory error

Question 10

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