Challenges in detecting proximal effects of existential threat on lie detection accuracy
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In: Current Psychology, Vol. 42, No. 25, 09.2023, p. 22114-22126.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Challenges in detecting proximal effects of existential threat on lie detection accuracy
AU - Schindler, Simon
AU - Reinhardt, Nina
AU - Reinhard, Marc André
N1 - Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This work was supported by a Grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG; Grant ID SCHI 1341/2–1) to Simon Schindler. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - The present work documents our investigation of proximal (i.e., immediate) effects of existential threat on the process of lie detection. Specifically, we hypothesized that lie detection accuracy will be higher in a mortality salience (MS) condition compared with the control condition. In two lab-based studies (N = 120; N = 109) and one internet study (N = 1294), we did not find any evidence for this hypothesis, that is, MS effects on lie detection accuracy were constantly not significant. However, these null findings should not be overstated. Instead, the present contribution aims to reveal the theoretical and methodological challenges in properly testing proximal MS effects on lie detection accuracy. First, we make transparent that our theoretical assumptions regarding the underlying mechanisms changed during the research process from MS-induced vigilance (Studies 1 and 2) to MS-induced negative affect (Study 3) and remain speculative. Moreover, we show how and why we adapted the operationalization from study to study to optimize adequate testing of the idea. In sum, this work aims to be informative for conducting future research rather than to provide conclusive evidence against or in favor of the investigated idea.
AB - The present work documents our investigation of proximal (i.e., immediate) effects of existential threat on the process of lie detection. Specifically, we hypothesized that lie detection accuracy will be higher in a mortality salience (MS) condition compared with the control condition. In two lab-based studies (N = 120; N = 109) and one internet study (N = 1294), we did not find any evidence for this hypothesis, that is, MS effects on lie detection accuracy were constantly not significant. However, these null findings should not be overstated. Instead, the present contribution aims to reveal the theoretical and methodological challenges in properly testing proximal MS effects on lie detection accuracy. First, we make transparent that our theoretical assumptions regarding the underlying mechanisms changed during the research process from MS-induced vigilance (Studies 1 and 2) to MS-induced negative affect (Study 3) and remain speculative. Moreover, we show how and why we adapted the operationalization from study to study to optimize adequate testing of the idea. In sum, this work aims to be informative for conducting future research rather than to provide conclusive evidence against or in favor of the investigated idea.
KW - Affect
KW - Existential threat
KW - Lie detection
KW - Mortality salience
KW - Vigilance
KW - Psychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131835322&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/1e2767cf-7227-3ca7-8f40-2dc04847699b/
U2 - 10.1007/s12144-022-03237-1
DO - 10.1007/s12144-022-03237-1
M3 - Journal articles
AN - SCOPUS:85131835322
VL - 42
SP - 22114
EP - 22126
JO - Current Psychology
JF - Current Psychology
SN - 1046-1310
IS - 25
ER -