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. 2023 Apr 3;11(4):69.
doi: 10.3390/jintelligence11040069.

Are Intelligent People Better Liars? Relationships between Cognitive Abilities and Credible Lying

Justyna Sarzyńska-Wawer  1 , Krzysztof Hanusz  1 , Aleksandra Pawlak  2 , Julia Szymanowska  3 , Aleksander Wawer  4
Affiliations

Are Intelligent People Better Liars? Relationships between Cognitive Abilities and Credible Lying

Justyna Sarzyńska-Wawer et al. J Intell. .

Abstract

Lying is essential to social communication. Despite years of research, its detection still poses many challenges. This is partly because some individuals are perceived as truthful and reliable, even when lying. However, relatively little is known about these effective liars. In our study, we focused on the cognitive functioning of effective liars. We tested 400 participants who completed tasks measuring executive functions, verbal fluency, and fluid intelligence, and also made four statements (two true and two false, half of them written and half oral). The reliability of the statements was then assessed. Only fluid intelligence was found to be relevant for reliable lying. This relationship was only evident for oral statements, suggesting that the importance of intelligence is highlighted when statements are made spontaneously without prior preparation.

Keywords: cognitive functions; deception; deception detection; intelligence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The plot presents the mean scores of statement veracity according to the status and the form of statement. Error bars represent standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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