When liars are considered honest

Stephan Lewandowsky; David Garcia; Almog Simchon; Fabio Carrella

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.03.005

When liars are considered honest

Trends Cogn Sci. 2024 May;28(5):383-385. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.03.005. Epub 2024 Apr 4.

Authors

Stephan Lewandowsky¹, David Garcia², Almog Simchon³, Fabio Carrella⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, 12a Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Electronic address: stephan.lewandowsky@bristol.ac.uk.
² Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany; Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
³ School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, 12a Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, UK; Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
⁴ School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, 12a Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, UK.

PMID: 38575465
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.03.005

Abstract

This article introduces a theoretical model of truth and honesty from a psychological perspective. We examine its application in political discourse and discuss empirical findings distinguishing between conceptions of honesty and their influence on public perception, misinformation dissemination, and the integrity of democracy.

Keywords: conceptions of honesty; integrity of democracy; misinformation; populism.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Deception*
Democracy
Humans
Models, Psychological
Politics