著者

奥川 裕 / 工藤 恵理子

雑誌

東京女子大学紀要論集 (ISSN:04934350)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.60, no.1, pp.131-143, 2009-03-10

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Previous studies have shown that people tend to overestimate the extent to which others can discern their internal states, such that liars tend to overestimate the detectability of their lies (e.g., Gilovich, Savitsky, & Medvec, 1998). In this study, we examined the effect of regulatory focus on the tendency to overestimate the detectability of lies. According to the regulatory focus theory (e.g., Higgins, 1998), prevention-focused people try to avoid failure. We hypothesized that the magnitude of the overestimation of detectability by liars increases when they are prevention-focused rather than promotion-focused. In the experiment, participants were randomly assigned to be an actor (liar) or an observer. Liars overestimated the detectability of their lies by observers and this tendency was more pronounced when liars were prevention-focused.