The detection of deception in cross-cultural contexts

Deception research has largely occurred in mono-cultural contexts where individuals are asked to judge the veracity of messages from people of whom they share the same cultural background. This literature has suggested that cross-cultural lie detection is possible. However, there are a number of cultural factors that have been largely ignored that could potentially increase the likelihood of bias or errors during cross-cultural judgments of deception with significant consequences. For instance, cultural norms and social display rules may potentially raise suspicion on observers who do not share the same normative behaviors. Also, factors that affect intergroup perceptions, such as stereotypes and prejudice, may influence one person’s judgments about the other. This chapter will review the current literature on deception detection and will discuss the implications of these findings on cross-cultural contexts. It will start by looking at the current lie detection literature on accuracy and behavioral correlates of deception. It will then move on to discuss cross-cultural issues in lie detection and, finally, provide suggestions of future research.