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People by nature are distrustful creatures, and Russians especially. More than 75% of our citizens believe that one should be careful in relationships. In the opposite – people should be trusted – only 25% are sure. Oddly enough, it is gullible natures that are less likely to be deceived. Research shows that they are better at spotting lies.
We are accustomed to believe that distrust and caution help to recognize a lie. Researchers Nancy Carter and Mark Weber** from the Rothman School of Management at the University of Toronto (Canada) decided to check if this is true. First, they asked a group of MBA students a simple question – who do they think is better at detecting lies, the gullible person or the calculating cynic? As expected, 85% of the students responded that cynics are better at spotting lies. Then Carter and Weber tested the students to determine their individual levels of gullibility and asked them to watch some videos of mock job interviews.
The candidates for the position in these videos had to do their best to present themselves in the best possible light and get the job. At the same time, half were told that they could lie three times during the interview. After watching the video, the participants in the experiment had to evaluate the honesty of the characters in the videos and say which of them they themselves would have hired for a position in the place of the employer.
Read more:
- How to recognize a deceiver?
Surprisingly, the participants with the highest levels of gullibility turned out to be the best lie detectors. They more accurately determined which of the interviewees in the videos were lying. On the contrary, distrustful ones were worse at recognizing lies and agreed to hire one of the liar candidates.
Researchers put forward two main hypotheses why gullible people recognize lies more easily:
1. Subtle perception. People can become more gullible over time because they are sensitive to lies. If you can easily spot when you’re being lied to, you’ll be less worried about being fooled.
2. Willingness to take risks. Living in society means taking risks to some extent. Those who are not afraid of this risk and actively make contact with strangers, over time, learn to identify lies more accurately. Anyone who avoids social contacts never develops the skill to distinguish lies from truth. Of course, in addition to these factors, it is worth taking into account the individual characteristics of a person. Some of us have a natural gift for reading body language and more developed social skills, while others have to work harder at it.
Read more:
- Why is it so hard to tell the truth
Whatever the explanation, one thing is clear – by trusting people, sometimes for no reason at all, we end up winning. The problem with a suspicious person is that by not trusting strangers even a little bit, he misses the potential opportunities for communication. Let’s say a barely familiar person invites you to a restaurant. Rejecting an invitation out of fear that he may have ulterior motives is safer, but at the same time you lose the chance to meet a friend for life.
It’s the same with business. Trust is the foundation of business relationships. Profitable deals are concluded on the basis of mutual trust – everyone contributes, although often does not have full information about the partner.
Trusting people are better at detecting when they are being lied to and can engage in social interactions early in a relationship, gaining an edge in both their personal and professional lives.
*Poll of the Public Opinion Foundation.
** N. L. Carter, J. Mark Weber «Not Pollyannas: Higher Generalized Trust Predicts Lie Detection Ability». Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2010; № 1 (3).