The Psychology of Lying and Detecting Lies has just been published. The book is a collection of 29 of my brief writings on deception that have appeared in blog posts and books over the past decade. It is available in paperback or as an e-book.

Drawing from research – much of it my own – I show how we can understand big-time liars as well as the more ordinary liars in our everyday lives. Want to know what science has to say about detecting deception? There are 7 short chapters on that. Another 9 chapters explore the dynamics of deceit in our interactions with our romantic partners, friends, and family.

Regardless of what you think you already know about deception, you will, I hope, learn something new and surprising from this book.

Here’s what you will find in The Psychology of Lying and Detecting Lies:

I. First, Some Truths about Lies

  • 6 truths about lies
  • Why do people lie to you?

 II. Profiles of Ordinary Liars

  • Who lies?
  • Men or women: Who lies more?

III. Big-Time Liars

  • How ordinary people become extraordinary liars
  • Big-time liars: Top 7 lies they tell themselves
  • How President Trump’s lies are different from other people’s
  • For writing about President Trump’s lies, I got called an “ugly witch” and more
  • Deception: It’s what Dexter does best (well, second best)
  • Getting suckered by a killer

IV. Figuring Out When You Are Getting Duped

  • Looks can kill – your better judgment
  • Why are we so bad at detecting lies?
  • How body language lets us down
  • Unconscious, gut-level lie detection?
  • Can’t keep your story straight: Maybe not such a great cue to deception after all
  • If you watch ‘Lie to Me,’ will you become more successful at detecting lies?
  • Suppose you could know exactly what other people were thinking and feeling: Would you want to?

 V. Lying and Detecting Lies in Relationships (and Not Just Romantic Ones)

  • Do relationships need lies to survive?
  • Infidelity: Who are the real cheaters?
  • Spotting a cheater: How long do you have to know a person before you can do it accurately?
  • Manti Te’o and the revenge of the romantic fantasy
  • When you are the last to know you’ve been duped
  • Friends and lovers: Is there a ‘knew it all along’ effect?
  • What friends know that others don’t
  • The power and peril of hurt feelings

 VI. Lying and Detecting Lies in Special Contexts

  • Do audio-only press briefings make it easier to mislead?
  • Airport screening post-9/11 – what happens before you even get to any of the machines
  • Can a computer tell when you are lying?
  • Accused of doing something awful? Here’s how to convince others of your innocence