Complications travel: A cross-cultural comparison of the proportion of complications as a verbal cue to deceit

Abstract

Verbal lie detection tools are almost exclusively examined in Western Europe and North America, but practitioners worldwide show interest in such tools. Because cultural differences in the efficacy of such tools may occur, it is important to examine their efficacy in different cultures. In this article, we focus on proportion of complications, which in previous research was more diagnostic than “total details” in two British samples and in three samples that each included Hispanic, Russian, and South Korean participants. In the present article, we merged the three non-British samples and analysed the data by presenting them for each cultural group separately. Truth tellers disclosed the details of a trip away they had made, whereas liars fabricated such details. Proportion of complications discriminated truth tellers from liars in all three groups and was consistently a better indicator of veracity than total details. Implications of the findings are discussed.