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Detecting Deceit via Analysis of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior

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Abstract

We examined the hypotheses that (1) a systematic analysis of nonverbal behavior could be useful in the detection of deceit and (2) that lie detection would be most accurate if both verbal and nonverbal indicators of deception are taken into account. Seventy-three nursing students participated in a study about “telling lies” and either told the truth or lied about a film they had just seen. The interviews were videotaped and audiotaped, and the nonverbal behavior (NVB) and speech content of the liars and truth tellers were analyzed, the latter with the Criteria-Based Content Analysis technique (CBCA) and the Reality Monitoring technique (RM). Results revealed several nonverbal and verbal indicators of deception. On the basis of nonverbal behavior alone, 78% of the lies and truths could be correctly classified. An even higher percentage could be correctly classified when all three detection techniques (i.e., NVB, CBCA, RM) were taken into account.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, King Henry 1 Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, United Kingdom

    Aldert Vrij

  2. Psychology Department, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom

    Katherine Edward & Ray Bull

  3. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland

    Kim P. Roberts

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  1. Aldert Vrij
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Vrij, A., Edward, K., Roberts, K.P. et al. Detecting Deceit via Analysis of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24, 239–263 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006610329284

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