The influence of motivational factors on the accuracy of credibility judgments of lay judges of "experts"

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Research about lying in everyday life has a long tradition in the field of social psychology. In recent years, general theories of information processing have been used to explain the process of lie detection, and motivational variables have been found to moderate the use of verbal and nonverbal information in judgments of veracity (e.g. Reinhard & Sporer, in press). The proposed research expands these theoretical assumptions in two ways. First, the uncertainty management model (van den Bos, 2001) will be used to explain the influence of emotional uncertainty on the process of lie detection. While research on the accuracy of deception detection has a long tradition in the field of psychology and law, theories from the field of social psychology or social cognition have been infrequently used to explain the process of lie detection (see Granhag & Strömwall, 2004). Second, the present research project will therefore apply the theoretical findings from research about the process of lie detection of laypersons to the field of psychology and law. In detail, the influence of need for cognition and emotional uncertainty of police officers or judges on the process of lie detection should be tested. Moreover, strategies to improve police officers’ accuracy in detecting deception should be developed.