Deception

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Deception is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. This occurs when a deceiver uses information against a person to make them believe an idea is true.[1] Deception can be used with both verbal and nonverbal messages. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the message has a tendency to believe it (although it’s not always the case).[2] It is often done for personal gain or advantage.[3][4] Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight of hand as well as distraction, camouflage or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith. It can also be called, with varying subjective implications, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, or subterfuge.

Deception is a major

rules and is considered to be a negative violation of expectations. Most people expect friends, relational partners, and even strangers to be truthful most of the time. If people expected most conversations to be untruthful, talking and communicating with others would require distraction and misdirection to acquire reliable information. A significant amount of deception occurs between some romantic and relational partners.[5]

fraudulent misrepresentation if deliberate), or give rise to criminal prosecution for fraud. It also forms a vital part of psychological warfare in denial and deception
.

Types

Communication

National Museum, Warsaw
)

Deception includes several types of communications or omissions that serve to distort or omit the whole truth. Examples of deception range from false statements to misleading claims in which relevant information is omitted, leading the receiver to infer false conclusions. For example, a claim that "sunflower oil is beneficial to brain health due to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids" may be misleading, as it leads the receiver to believe sunflower oil will benefit brain health more so than other foods. In fact, sunflower oil is relatively low in omega-3 fatty acids and is not particularly good for brain health, so while this claim is technically true, it leads the receiver to infer false information. Deception itself is intentionally managing verbal or nonverbal messages so that the message receiver will believe in a way that the message sender knows is false. Intent is critical with regard to deception. Intent differentiates between deception and an honest mistake. The Interpersonal Deception Theory explores the interrelation between communicative context and sender and receiver cognitions and behaviors in deceptive exchanges.

Some forms of deception include:

  • Lies: making up information or giving information that is the opposite or very different from the truth.[6]
  • Equivocations: making an indirect, ambiguous, or contradictory statement.
  • Concealments
    : omitting information that is important or relevant to the given context, or engaging in behavior that helps hide relevant information.
  • Exaggerations
    : overstatement or stretching the truth to a degree.
  • Understatements: minimization or downplaying aspects of the truth.[5]
  • Untruths: misinterpreting the truth.

Buller and Burgoon (1996) have proposed three taxonomies to distinguish motivations for deception based on their Interpersonal Deception Theory:

  • Instrumental: to avoid punishment or to protect resources
  • Relational: to maintain relationships or bonds
  • Identity: to preserve "face" or the self-image[7]

Appearance

Simulation consists of exhibiting false information. There are three simulation techniques: mimicry (copying another model or example, such as non-poisonous snakes which have the colours and markings of poisonous snakes), fabrication (making up a new model), and distraction (offering an alternative model)

Mimicry

In the biological world, mimicry involves unconscious deception by similarity to another organism, or to a natural object. Animals for example may deceive predators or prey by

visual, auditory
or other means.

Fabrication

To make something that appears to be something that it is not, usually for the purpose of encouraging an adversary to reveal, endanger, or divert that adversary's own resources (i.e., as a decoy). For example, in World War II, it was common for the Allies to use hollow tanks made out of wood to fool German reconnaissance planes into thinking a large armor unit was on the move in one area while the real tanks were well hidden and on the move in a location far from the fabricated "dummy" tanks. Mock airplanes and fake airfields have also been created.

Distraction

To get someone's attention from the truth by offering

feint attack
or fake retreat, to make the enemy think they are doing one thing while in fact they have another goal.

Camouflage

This wallaby has adaptive colouration which allows it to blend with its environment.

The

half-truths
, camouflage is realized by 'hiding' some of the truths.

Military camouflage as a form of visual deception is a part of military deception. Some Allied navies during World War II used dazzle camouflage painting schemes to confuse observers regarding a naval vessel's speed and heading, by breaking up the ship's otherwise obvious silhouette.

In nature, the defensive mechanisms of most

octopuses to eject black ink
in a large cloud to aid in escape from predators is a form of camouflage.

Disguise

A disguise is an appearance to create the impression of being somebody or something else; for a well-known person this is also called incognito. Passing involves more than mere dress and can include hiding one's real manner of speech. The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes often disguised himself as somebody else to avoid being recognized.

In a more abstract sense, 'disguise' may refer to the act of disguising the nature of a particular proposal in order to hide an unpopular motivation or effect associated with that proposal. This is a form of political

"spinning" a kidnapping as a protective custody
.

A seventeenth-century story collection, Zhang Yingyu's The Book of Swindles (ca. 1617), offers multiple examples of the bait-and-switch and fraud techniques involving the stimulation of greed in Ming-dynasty China.[8]

In romantic relationships

The Beguiling of Merlin, by Edward Burne-Jones, 1874

Deception is particularly common within romantic relationships, with more than 90% of individuals admitting to lying or not being completely honest with their partner at one time.[9]

There are three primary motivations for deception in relationships.

Reasons for deceiving Description
Partner-focused motives Using deception to avoid hurting the partner, to help the partner to enhance or maintain their self-esteem, to avoid worrying the partner, and to protect the partner's relationship with a third party.[10][11][12] Partner-focused motivated deception can sometimes be viewed as socially polite and relationally beneficial, such as telling white lies to avoid hurting your partner. Although other, less common, partner-focused motives such as using to deception to evoke jealous reactions from their partner may have damaging effects on a relationship.[10][13]
Self-focused motives Using deception to enhance or protect one's own self-image, maintain or establish their autonomy, avoid constrictions, unwanted activities, or impositions, shield themselves from anger, embarrassment, or criticism, or resolve an argument.[9][10][11] Another common self-focused motive for deception, is a continuation of deception in order to avoid being caught in a previous deception.[10] Self-focused deception is generally perceived as a more serious transgression than partner-focused deception, because the deceiver is acting for selfish reasons rather than for the good of the partner or relationship.
Relationship-focused motives Using deception to limit relationship harm by avoiding conflict or relational trauma.[10] Relationally motivated deception can be beneficial to a relationship, and other times it can be harmful by further complicating matters. Deception may also be used to facilitate the dissolution of an unwanted relationship.[9]

Deception impacts the perception of a relationship in a variety of ways, for both the deceiver and the deceived. The deceiver typically perceives less understanding and intimacy from the relationship, in that they see their partner as less empathetic and more distant.[14] The act of deception can also result in feelings of distress for the deceiver, which become worse the longer the deceiver has known the deceived, as well as in longer-term relationships. Once discovered, deception creates feelings of detachment and uneasiness surrounding the relationship for both partners; this can eventually lead to both partners becoming more removed from the relationship or deterioration of the relationship.[9] In general, discovery of deception can result in a decrease in relationship satisfaction and commitment level, however, in instances where a person is successfully deceived, relationship satisfaction can actually be positively impacted for the person deceived, since lies are typically used to make the other partner feel more positive about the relationship.

In general, deception tends to occur less often in relationships with higher satisfaction and commitment levels and in relationships where partners have known each other longer, such as long-term relationships and marriage.[9] In comparison, deception is more likely to occur in casual relationships and in dating where commitment level and length of acquaintanceship is often much lower.[14][15]

Deception and infidelity

Unique to exclusive romantic relationships is the use of deception in the form of infidelity. When it comes to the occurrence of infidelity, there are many individual difference factors that can impact this behavior. Infidelity is impacted by

sociosexual orientation, personality traits, and gender. Attachment style impacts the probability of infidelity and research indicates that people with an insecure attachment style (anxious or avoidant) are more likely to cheat compared to individuals with a secure attachment style,[16] especially for avoidant men and anxious women.[17] Insecure attachment styles are characterized by a lack of comfort within a romantic relationship resulting in a desire to be overly independent (avoidant attachment style) or a desire to be overly dependent on their partner in an unhealthy way (anxious attachment style). Those with an insecure attachment style are characterized by not believing that their romantic partner can/will support and comfort them in an effective way, either stemming from a negative belief regarding themselves (anxious attachment style) or a negative belief regarding romantic others (avoidant attachment style). Women are more likely to commit infidelity when they are emotionally unsatisfied with their relationship whereas men are more likely to commit infidelity if they are sexually unsatisfied with their current relationship.[18] Women are more likely to commit emotional infidelity than men while men are more likely to commit sexual infidelity than women; however, these are not mutually exclusive categories as both men and women can and do engage in emotional or sexual infidelity.[18]

Executive control is a part of

sociosexual orientation (more likely to partake in casual sex) are more likely to engage in infidelity.[18][22] Individuals that have personality traits including (high) neuroticism, (low) agreeableness, and (low) conscientiousness are more likely to commit infidelity.[18] Men are generally speculated to cheat more than women, but it is unclear if this is a result of socialization processes where it is more acceptable for men to cheat compared to women or due to an actual increase in this behavior for men.[23] Research conducted by Conley and colleagues (2011) suggests that the reasoning behind these gender differences stems from the negative stigma associated with women who engage in casual sex and inferences about the sexual capability of the potential sexual partner. In their study, men and women were equally likely to accept a sexual proposal from an individual who was speculated to have a high level of sexual prowess. Additionally, women were just as likely as men to accept a casual sexual proposal when they did not anticipate being subjected to the negative stigma of sexually permissible women as slutty.[23]

Online dating deceptions

Research on the use of deception in online dating has shown that people are generally truthful about themselves with the exception of physical attributes to appear more attractive.[24][25][26] According to the Scientific American, "nine out of ten online daters will fib about their height, weight, or age" such that men were more likely to lie about height while women were more likely to lie about weight.[27] In a study conducted by Toma and Hancock, "less attractive people were found to be more likely to have chosen a profile picture in which they were significantly more attractive than they were in everyday life".[28] Both genders used this strategy in online dating profiles, but women more so than men.[28] Additionally, less attractive people were more likely to have "lied about objective measures of physical attractiveness such as height and weight".[28] In general, men are more likely to lie on dating profiles the one exception being that women are more likely to lie about weight.[24]

Detection

Deception detection between relational partners is extremely difficult unless a partner tells a blatant or obvious lie or contradicts something the other partner knows to be true. While it is difficult to deceive a partner over a long period of time, deception often occurs in day-to-day conversations between relational partners.

nonverbally
.

Deception and its detection is a complex, fluid, and cognitive process that is based on the context of the message exchange. The

non-verbal cues.One’s personality can influence these judgements also as some people are more confident in deceiving compared to others.[1] Noted deception scholar Aldert Vrij even states that there is no nonverbal behavior that is uniquely associated with deception.[32] As previously stated, a specific behavioral indicator of deception does not exist. There are, however, some nonverbal behaviors that have been found to be correlated with deception. Vrij found that examining a "cluster" of these cues was a significantly more reliable indicator of deception than examining a single cue.[32]

Many people believe that they are good at deception, though this confidence is often misplaced.[33]

Mark Frank proposes that deception is detected at the cognitive level.[34] Lying requires deliberate conscious behavior, so listening to speech and watching body language are important factors in detecting lies. If a response to a question has a lot disturbances, less talking time, repeated words, and poor logical structure, then the person may be lying. Vocal cues such as frequency height and variation may also provide meaningful clues to deceit.[35]

Fear specifically causes heightened arousal in liars, which manifests in more frequent blinking, pupil dilation, speech disturbances, and a higher pitched voice. The liars that experience guilt have been shown to make attempts at putting distance between themselves and the deceptive communication, producing "nonimmediacy cues" These can be verbal or physical, including speaking in more indirect ways and showing an inability to maintain eye contact with their conversation partners.[36] Another cue for detecting deceptive speech is the tone of the speech itself. Streeter, Krauss, Geller, Olson, and Apple (1977) have assessed that fear and anger, two emotions widely associated with deception, cause greater arousal than grief or indifference, and note that the amount of stress one feels is directly related to the frequency of the voice.[37]

In business

People who negotiate feel more tempted to use deceit. In negotiation, it includes both parties to trust and respect one another. In negotiations, one party is unaware of what is going on in the other side of the thing that needs to be negotiated. Deception in negotiation comes in many forms, and each has its reaction (Gaspar et al.,2019).[38]

  • Price reservation: Not stating the real budget or price that you are trying to get.
  • Misrepresentation of interests: Getting interests if the buyer seems desperate.
  • Fabrication of facts: This is the most immoral part, where the person lies about materials, misleading information to get a sale.
  • Omitting relevance: Not stating something that is helpful to know, for example, a car can be like new but it does not help if you leave out the part that there is a transmission issue.[38]

In journalism

Journalistic deception ranges from passive activities (i.e. blending into a civil rights march) to active deception (i.e. falsely identifying oneself over the telephone, getting hired as a worker at a mental hospital).[39] Paul Bran says that the journalist does not stand apart from the rest of the populace in the use of deception.[39]

In law

For legal purposes,

fraudulent misrepresentation), or a criminal prosecution, on the basis of fraud
.

In government

The use of deception by a government is typically frowned upon unless it's in reference to military operations. These terms refer to the means by which governments employ deception:

  • Subterfuge – in the case of disguise and disguised movement
  • Secrecy – in the fortification of communications and in the fortified concealing of documents.
  • Propaganda – somewhat controversial label for what governments produce in the way of controlled information and message in media documents and communications.
  • Fake news – in criminal investigations, the delivery of information to the public, the deliberate transformation of certain key details.
  • Misinformation – similar to the above, but unconfined to criminal investigations.
  • Military secret
    – secrecy for military operations
    • False flag – military operations that deal with deception as their main component.

In religion

Deception is a common topic in religious discussions. Some sources focus on how religious texts deal with deception. But, other sources focus on the deceptions created by the religions themselves. For example, Ryan McKnight is the founder of an organization called FaithLeaks. He stated that the organizations "goal is to reduce the amount of deception and untruths and unethical behaviors that exist in some facets of religion".[40]

Christianity

Islam

In general, Islam never allows deception and lie. Prophet Muhammad said, "He who deceives is not of me (is not my follower)".[41] However, there are some exceptions, especially in case of war or peace making or in case of safeguarding one's faith.[42] For an example,

Taqiya is an Islamic juridical term for the cases in which a Muslim is allowed to lie under the circumstance when need to deny their faith due to force or when faced with persecution.[43] The concept mainly followed by Shi'ite sect, but it varies "significantly among Islamic sects, scholars, countries, and political regimes", and has been evoked by critics of Islam to portray the faith allowing dishonesty.[44]

In philosophy

Deception is a recurring theme in modern philosophy. In 1641 Descartes published his

skeptical arguments, which purport to put into question our knowledge of reality. The punch of the argument is that all we know might be wrong, since we might be deceived. Stanley Cavell
has argued that all skepticism has its root in this fear of deception.

In psychological research

Psychological research often needs to deceive the subjects as to its actual purpose. The rationale for such deception is that humans are sensitive to how they appear to others (and to themselves) and this self-consciousness might interfere with or distort from how they actually behave outside of a research context (where they would not feel they were being scrutinized). For example, if a psychologist is interested in learning the conditions under which students cheat on tests, directly asking them, "how often do you cheat?," might result in a high percent of "socially desirable" answers and the researcher would, in any case, be unable to verify the accuracy of these responses. In general, then, when it is unfeasible or naive to simply ask people directly why or how often they do what they do, researchers turn to the use of deception to distract their participants from the true behavior of interest. So, for example, in a study of cheating, the participants may be told that the study has to do with how intuitive they are. During the process, they might be given the opportunity to look at (secretly, they think) another participant's [presumably highly intuitively correct] answers before handing in their own. At the conclusion of this or any research involving deception, all participants must be told of the true nature of the study and why deception was necessary (this is called debriefing). Moreover, it is customary to offer to provide a summary of the results to all participants at the conclusion of the research.

Though commonly used and allowed by the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association, there has been debate about whether or not the use of deception should be permitted in psychological research experiments. Those against deception object to the ethical and methodological issues involved in its use. Dresser (1981) notes that, ethically, researchers are only to use subjects in an experiment after the subject has given informed consent. However, because of its very nature, a researcher conducting a deception experiment cannot reveal its true purpose to the subject, thereby making any consent given by a subject misinformed (p. 3). Baumrind (1964), criticizing the use of deception in the Milgram (1963) obedience experiment, argues that deception experiments inappropriately take advantage of the implicit trust and obedience given by the subject when the subject volunteers to participate (p. 421).

From a practical perspective, there are also methodological objections to deception. Ortmann and Hertwig (1998) note that "deception can strongly affect the reputation of individual labs and the profession, thus contaminating the participant pool" (p. 806). If the subjects in the experiment are suspicious of the researcher, they are unlikely to behave as they normally would, and the researcher's control of the experiment is then compromised (p. 807). Those who do not object to the use of deception note that there is always a constant struggle in balancing "the need for conducting research that may solve social problems and the necessity for preserving the dignity and rights of the research participant" (Christensen, 1988, p. 670). They also note that, in some cases, using deception is the only way to obtain certain kinds of information, and that prohibiting all deception in research would "have the egregious consequence of preventing researchers from carrying out a wide range of important studies" (Kimmel, 1998, p. 805).

Additionally, findings suggest that deception is not harmful to subjects. Christensen's (1988) review of the literature found "that research participants do not perceive that they are harmed and do not seem to mind being misled" (p. 668). Furthermore, those participating in experiments involving deception "reported having enjoyed the experience more and perceived more educational benefit" than those who participated in non-deceptive experiments (p. 668). Lastly, it has also been suggested that an unpleasant treatment used in a deception study or the unpleasant implications of the outcome of a deception study may be the underlying reason that a study using deception is perceived as unethical in nature, rather than the actual deception itself (Broder, 1998, p. 806; Christensen, 1988, p. 671).

In social research

Some methodologies in social research, especially in psychology, involve deception. The researchers purposely mislead or misinform the participants about the true nature of the experiment. In an experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram in 1963 the researchers told participants that they would be participating in a scientific study of memory and learning. In reality the study looked at the participants' willingness to obey commands, even when that involved inflicting pain upon another person. After the study, the subjects were informed of the true nature of the study, and steps were taken in order to ensure that the subjects left in a state of well-being.[45] Use of deception raises many problems of research ethics and it is strictly regulated by professional bodies such as the American Psychological Association.

In games

A player examines their cards in a game of Texas hold 'em.

In the card game poker, players attempt to bluff one another about the value of the unseen cards that they hold in their hand.

In computer security

Self Deception

Deception commonly occurs during interpersonal communication, it can also be a part of intrapersonal communication. Self deception occurs when one convinces themselves to believe something that isn’t true.[2]With self deception, a person typically hides the truth in their subconscious minds.[3]One can perform acts of self deception by suppressing information that is true by forgetting a thought. For example, when one experiences unwanted thoughts, suppressing the information and pushing it aside allowing them to eventually forget those thoughts.[4] Self deception also commonly occurs with self image. With certain behaviors and beliefs, a person may deceive themselves into believing they possess positive attributes that they in fact lack. On the other hand, self deception can occur when a person believes themselves to have positive attributes rather than negative ones that results in misjudging themselves.  Essentially, self esteem is a contributor to self deception due to experiences a person faces that may lead them to think either negatively or positively about themselves although those beliefs may not always be true.[6]

Online Disinhibition

Deception occurs not only in real life, but also online. Through mediated communication, a type of communication exchanged through online platforms such as social media and mass media like radios and magazines, deceiving messages can be spread online. With the Online Disinhibition Theory, a person may not feel the need to censor their communication because of the online environment. This often occurs due to the idea that on the internet, no one can physically know weather the communication one is using is true or not.   This can lead to falsehoods since communication isn’t occurring face-to-face, making it difficult to perceive the words of other people. Online Disinhibition typically occurs on social media such as group chats or online games. Although not always, people are able to portray themselves as a different person than reality because of the lack of face-to face communication which allows them to fit in with a specific group they wish to be a part of. [7]

Digital Deception

As technology continues to expand, deception online is common to see. Digital Deception is widely used within different forms of technology to misrepresent someone or something.[15] Through digital deception, people are easily capable of deceiving others whether it be for their own benefit or to ensure their safety. One form of digital deception is catfishing. By creating a false identity catfishers deceive those online to build relationships, friendships, or connections without revealing who they truly are as a person. They do so by creating an entirely new account that has made up information allowing them to  portray themselves as a different person. Most lies and misinformation are spread commonly through emails and instant messaging since these messages are erased faster.[16] Without face to face communication, it could be easier to deceive others, making it difficult to detect the truth from a lie.  These unreliable cues allow digital deception to easily influence and mislead others. [17]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Perusall". app.perusall.com. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ a b "Definition of 'deception' – English Dictionary". Cambridge Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Definition of 'deceive'". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Guerrero, L., Anderson, P., Afifi, W. (2007). Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ .
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  16. ^ .
  17. ^ .
  18. ^ .
  19. .
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  22. ^ .
  23. ^ .
  24. ^ a b "Can You Really Trust the People You Meet Online? | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com.
  25. ^ "Myth-busting online dating". May 14, 2015.
  26. ^ "Detecting Deception in Online Profiles | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com.
  27. ^ d'Costa, Krystal. "Catfishing: The truth about deception online". Scientific American Blog Network.
  28. ^ a b c "Big fat liars: Less attractive people have more deceptive online dating profiles". December 9, 2011.
  29. ^ Buller & Burgoon, 1996
  30. ^ Burgoon & Qin, 2006
  31. ^ Ziano, I., & Wang, D. (2021). Slow lies: Response delays promote perceptions of insincerity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000250
  32. ^ a b Vrij, 2008
  33. .
  34. .
  35. .
  36. ISBN 978-0120152148. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help
    )
  37. .
  38. ^ .
  39. ^ .
  40. ^ Ruth Graham, "A New “Wikileaks for Religion” Publishes Its First Trove of Documents", Slate, January 12, 2018
  41. ^ "Sahih Muslim 102 - The Book of Faith - كتاب الإيمان - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)". sunnah.com.
  42. ^ "Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Lying and Deception". WikiIslam.
  43. . Taqīyah is the precautionary dissimulation of religious belief and practice in the face of persecution.
  44. ^ Mariuma, Yarden. "Taqiyya as Polemic, Law and Knowledge: Following an Islamic Legal Term through the Worlds of Islamic Scholars, Ethnographers, Polemicists and Military Men." The Muslim World 104.1–2 (2014): 89–108.
  45. S2CID 18309531
    .

General and cited sources

Further reading

External links

  • The dictionary definition of deception at Wiktionary
  • Media related to Deception at Wikimedia Commons
  • Quotations related to Deception at Wikiquote