Perspective Differences in the Construal of Lies: Is Deception in the Eye of the Beholder?

To examine the potential of role-based motives to influence the interpretation of lies, the authors asked participants to evaluate a dating scenario from the perspective of lie teller, lie receiver, or observer. As a means of varying participants’ emotional involvement with the scenarios, half were asked to provide an explanation of the scenario’s events before responding to questionnaire items about the lie teller and lie receiver. It was expected that those role-playing lie tellers and lie receivers would interpret the deceptive situation self-servingly. Results indicated that role-based perspectives significantly influenced participants’ judgments regarding the deception and both lie-teller and lie-receiver roles were associated with negative affect. The social implications of motivated construals of lying are considered.