Digital communications are a hotbed for deception, so a team of Brigham Young University researchers set out to discover the signs that out texting liars.
Digital communications are a hotbed for deception, so a team of Brigham Young University researchers set out to discover the signs that out texting liars.
At the top of the list of tells is that they take too long to respond.
In an experiment, over 100 college students were given 30 questions to answer. They were instructed to lie when responding to half of them.
Later analysis showed that it took them 10 percent more time to say things that weren’t true.
It was also revealed that giving deceptive information involves more editing and less writing, as the responses tend to be markedly shorter.
The researchers plan to use their insights to find ways that technology can pick up on deceitful communications.
That’s something humans, even in the best of person-to-person circumstances, are pretty pitiful at.
Only 54 percent of lies are picked up on, and typically it’s a result of noticing physical cues.
If they can’t be seen or heard, liars have a better chance of getting away with it, and that’s what the researchers are hoping to someday put a stop to.
