The influence of an interviewer’s attitude on the perceived deceptiveness of interviewees

Abstract

This study examined how the attitude of an interviewer affected the perceived deceptiveness of interviewees. Forty-four university students (20 males and 24 females) were interviewed, and either told the truth or lied about their experience. They were randomly assigned to the conversation condition or the accusation condition. The interviewer in the conversation condition nodded and made eye contact with the interviewees, whereas the interviewer in the accusation condition did not look at the interviewees and suspected what the interviewees said. Neutral observers watched the videotaped interviews and rated their perceived deceptiveness of the interviewees. The results indicated that accusations by the interviewer increased non-verbal behaviors (e.g., eye blinking) of the interviewees, and the increased eye blinking amplified the perceived deceptiveness of the interviewees.