In this study, researchers analyze the ways in which liars and truth-tellers communicate differently. The findings reveal that liars tend to tell stories that are less complex, less self-relevant, and more negative than truth-tellers. Additionally, liars tend to use fewer first-person pronouns, possibly indicating an attempt to distance themselves from the lie. These results highlight the cognitive complexity involved in telling a false story and suggest that liars may not have the necessary resources to create a convincing narrative.
Furthermore, the researchers found that liars tend to use more negative emotion words and fewer "exclusive" words, indicating lower cognitive complexity. Interestingly, liars often use more "motion" verbs, which provide simple and concrete descriptions and may be more accessible for the creation of a believable story. Overall, these findings suggest that the language used by liars and truth-tellers differ in significant ways, with liars using language that is less complex, more negative, and less self-referential.
Read the research: Predicting Deception from Linguistic Styles
