Abstract

This paper reviewed previous studies on the characteristics of lying and lie detection. Lies are frequently encountered in everyday life and can be categorized as harmless types and harmful types. Ability of lying develops with age. Untruthful expressions of women tend to be more readily detectable than those of men's. But women can read other people's expressions more accurately than men. The evidence of lying can be distinguished into thought-related cues and emotion-related cues. No single linguistic or nonlinguistic clue could assure whether someone is lying or not. Common errors committed during lie detection and the accuracy of polygraph test were also reviewed. Finally, possibility of utilizing the outcomes of lie detection research in criminal investigation and the relationship between lying and interpersonal trust were discussed.