The inhibitory spillover effect: Controlling the bladder makes better liars

Area of Science:

• Cognitive psychology
• Social psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• The Inhibitory-Spillover-Effect (ISE) describes how performance in one self-control task can improve performance in another.
• Deception requires significant inhibitory control, making it a potential domain for ISE investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the Inhibitory-Spillover-Effect (ISE) in the context of deception.
• To test the hypothesis that physical inhibition (controlling urination urgency) facilitates cognitive inhibition during deceptive acts.

Main Methods:

• Participants were assigned to either a low-control (small water intake) or high-control (large water intake) condition.
• Following water intake, participants either lied or told the truth during an interview.
• Third-party observers assessed behavioral cues and judged whether participants were lying or telling the truth.

Main Results:

• In the high-control group, liars exhibited fewer deceptive cues and more truth-telling cues compared to truth-tellers.
• Liars in the high-control condition provided longer and more complex accounts than truth-tellers.
• Observer accuracy in detecting liars was significantly impaired in the high-control condition, with a bias towards perceiving liars as truth-tellers.

Conclusions:

• The Inhibitory-Spillover-Effect can operate in complex behaviors like deception.
• Covert manipulations of self-control can facilitate acts of deception, making individuals more convincing liars.