1992 Volume 32 Issue 1 Pages 1-14
We must understand the fact that lying plays an important role in each stage of interpersonal relation-ships. Telling the truth is a desirable manner, but we must put on an act of deception to maintain the interpersonal balance.
The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of deceptive communication in a face-to-face dyadic conversation. The subjects consisted of forty-eight male and female undergraduates. Same sex Ss were divided into deceivers or truth tellers. The deceivers were asked to take a standpoint opposite to their own attitude for a certain attitude topic in a 12-minute session. Talking, looking, and self-touching pattern indicies were employed in this study. These communication data are chronologically analyzed by some interaction indices. Before and after the conversation, the Ss were asked to provide personality perception and attraction ratings for their partners.
The results showed that deceivers displayed more vocal activity than truth tellers, particullarly this trend was remarkable in female dyads. Concerning self-touching behavior, deceivers touched their hands and arms more often than their partners. Self-adaptors are remarkable in male dyads. These male and female characteristics were opposite to the respective overall characteristics in general. Further, female deceivers were perceived as talkative, humorous, agreeable and attractive by their partners.
According to these results, the deception operation which activates communication activity complements and supplements the general characteristics of male and femal communication patterns. In general, the female is less talkative, and the male has less looking, and non-intended self-adaptors. Then, in the situation of forced deception, we found that the behavior with the channel usually repressed begins to become aroused.
