Individual differences in judging deception: Accuracy and bias
Charles Bond and Bella DePaulo examined individual differences in detecting lies when strangers judge whether others are lying in real time without special aids. Researchers had suggested that people differ in lie-detection ability, but the meta-analysis found those differences to be very small. Judges show a bias towards judging statements as truthful, and people differ in both their judging tendencies and their ability. Liars vary in how detectable they are, and some people are judged more credible than others whether they lie or tell the truth, so the outcome of a deception judgment depends on the liar's credibility as well as on the judge.
Charles Bond and Bella DePaulo examined individual differences in detecting lies when strangers judge whether others are lying in real time without special aids. Researchers had suggested that people differ in lie-detection ability, but the meta-analysis found those differences to be very small. Judges show a bias towards judging statements as truthful, and people differ in both their judging tendencies and their ability. Liars vary in how detectable they are, and some people are judged more credible than others whether they lie or tell the truth, so the outcome of a deception judgment depends on the liar's credibility as well as on the judge.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-25 via OpenAlex.
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Bond, C. F., Jr., & DePaulo, B. M. (2008). Individual differences in judging deception: Accuracy and bias. Psychological Bulletin, 134(4), 477-492. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.477