\n<\/p>\n
Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American\u2019s Science Quickly, I\u2019m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman.<\/p>\n
The global reality TV show franchise The Traitors has a simple premise: among a cast of, say, 23 people, roughly 20 are \u201cfaithfuls,\u201d and about three are \u201ctraitors.\u201d The job of the traitors is to lie so they remain undetected. The job of the faithfuls is to suss them out.<\/p>\n
All of that led SciAm\u2019s breaking news reporter Jackie Flynn Mogensen to wonder, \u201cWhat does science have to tell us about how to spot liars? And what can it tell us about how to be more effective liars?\u201d<\/p>\n
If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n
She recently wrote about all this and is here to spill the deets. But before we get started, if you\u2019re interested in the current U.S. season of The Traitors and haven\u2019t seen it, be warned there will be spoilers.<\/p>\n
Hi, Jackie. Thanks for joining us today.<\/p>\n
Jackie Flynn Mogensen: Thank you for having me. I\u2019m so excited to be here.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: So for those who haven\u2019t seen the show, can you tell us a little bit about what Traitors is?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Yes, so Traitors is essentially a reality TV game show that is a lot like the party game Mafia, if you\u2019ve ever played it, where there is a group of traitors within the group and everyone else are faithfuls. The goal for the faithfuls is to vote out the traitors, and the goal of the traitors is to pretend to be faithful for the length of the game.<\/p>\n
And the cast, it\u2019s usually, for the U.S. version, a cast of celebrities …<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Reality TV stars, Olympic athletes, actors, etcetera. And at stake is a prize pot worth $250,000.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: I know the season just recently ended. Can you tell us a little bit about how this season went?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: This was one of the best seasons that I\u2019ve seen so far, and I have watched the Australia version as well. [Laughs.] And I think it was just overall, really a master class in lying by Rob Rausch from Love Island, who ended up winning the show. He does a fantastic job of blending in as a faithful and ultimately [does] a really great job of lying to his fellow castmates. And he basically goes pretty much undetected the whole season and in the end betrays some of his closest allies, which was very sad to watch, but also made really great television.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: What made you decide that this was worthy of, like, scientific exploration?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Well, first of all, I am a superfan of the show. I started watching a few seasons ago. And people in the office I know are also fans, too, and combined with y\u2019all\u2019s Heated Rivalry episode from earlier this year\u2014I was really inspired by that. I felt like it could be a good opportunity to dive into the science of one of my favorite shows, too.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: One of the big things in the show and that you really get into [in] your reporting is essentially, like, the science of lying. And I feel like humans have been obsessed with the idea of figuring out how to tell if someone is lying. But one of the things your article points out is, generally, we\u2019re pretty bad at it. I think there was a meta-analysis that looked at a bunch of studies and found that, on average, people are about 50\u201350 at detecting liars. Why are we so bad at it?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: This is a question I did ask some of my sources in my reporting. I think there\u2019s a few reasons. I think one of the main ones is that we let our biases get in the way, and that\u2019s one of their main strategies\u2014if you were to be in the show The Traitors or if you want to be better at detecting lies, something to do is just throw out the biases you have about other people and lying itself.<\/p>\n
So for instance, one of the key misunderstandings that I heard from both sources is that liars, if they\u2019re telling a lie, won\u2019t look you in the eye …<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: But that\u2019s actually not true at all. Liars, if they\u2019re good, know that\u2019s what people expect, and they will purposely look you in the eye, whereas, you know, in this conversation right now I\u2019m thinking about what I might say next; I look to the side. That\u2019s not an indication of lying. [Laughs.] At least I hope you don\u2019t think so. But in general people look to the side when they\u2019re thinking about what to say next, and that, that\u2019s not necessarily lying. So that\u2019s one example of a bias that you might have about lying going into a show like The Traitors.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: One of the things that I thought was interesting is that we\u2019re better at detecting lying if we don\u2019t pay attention to physical cues, if we just focus on the voice. That was quite shocking to me.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Yeah, that was interesting. I think that was from one of my sources, Sharon Leal, who\u2019s a senior research fellow at the University of Portsmouth in England. She studies lie detection, and I asked her\u2014and she\u2019s also a fan of the show. I asked her, \u201cWhat would you do if you were on The Traitors?\u201d And she said [essentially], \u201cI would completely throw out all physical lie-detection mechanisms; I\u2019d basically just listen to what people are saying and try to listen to\u2014for inconsistencies,\u201d because she knows how often our biases or perceptions of what other people\u2019s body movements\u2014how often that gets in the way of lie detection.<\/p>\n
And so that was her advice as an expert, and I think I would listen to it, too, if I was on The Traitors [Laughs] because there\u2019s a lot of other things that can get in the way of accurate lie detection. And it\u2019s not a foolproof science. You can never for certain know if somebody is lying or not, as far as we know. But there are other tips that they shared as well.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: What are some of the other ones?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: So going back to body language, there are some things that they\u2019ve found in research that people who are lying tend to do. I mean, again, it\u2019s not foolproof, but people tend to stop moving as much when they\u2019re lying. They don\u2019t use their hands when they speak as much, or they\u2019re slower. And that might be because lying takes cognitive effort; it takes more cognitive effort to lie than it does to tell the truth. It\u2019s sort of like if you\u2019re walking on the street and you get a text, you\u2019ll often stop to answer the text. It\u2019s your brain saying, \u201cI just wanna focus on this one thing at a time.\u201d And so that\u2019s one thing liars might do.<\/p>\n
Another thing is, if you notice someone\u2019s smile, if it ends really abruptly, that could be a sign that it\u2019s not a true smile. You know, true smiles tend to fade more slowly.<\/p>\n
And then the other thing is\u2014to be aware of is just, given how much cognitive effort it takes to lie, is something called \u201ccognitive interviewing.\u201d One strategy within cognitive interviewing, for instance, is asking a person to recall what happened to them in reverse. And they actually did a study on this in 2008 and found that police officers were better at detecting lies about an incident when sort of mock suspects told their recollection of that event in reverse. And I think that that\u2019s just because it\u2019s easier to access memories when they\u2019re true, and when you\u2019re trying to stick to one straight story, it\u2019s kind of hard to recollect backwards, essentially.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: So I\u2019ve never played Mafia or Traitor, but I have played Two Truths and a Lie, and I\u2019m good at it. And one of the reasons I think I\u2019m good at it is because I tend to pick truths that are kind of, like, outlandish and don\u2019t seem like they\u2019re real. So, like, one of my favorite truths is that I\u2019ve seen a polar bear in the wild, and people just don\u2019t think that a girl from New York City will have seen a polar bear in the wild. And then for my lie I usually pick something that is true and then twist it slightly.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Mm.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: So it\u2019s not a big change; it\u2019s a small change, and that small change makes it a lie.<\/p>\n
And that raises a question, which is, like, so far we\u2019ve been really focused on how to tell if someone\u2019s lying, but on Traitors some of the people really need to be good liars. So how do we become better liars?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Yeah, that\u2019s an excellent question. I think a lot of the research focuses on lie detection because it\u2019s oftentimes a tool used in the criminal-justice system, for instance, and that\u2019s why the researchers are interested.<\/p>\n
Less focus, I think, just based on my, you know, read of the literature for this piece, is that there\u2019s research into how to be a good liar, but a lot of it is kind of taking advantage of what you might already know:What is someone\u2019s biases they may already have? How can you play into that? Like you just explained in your example about Two Truths and a Lie: \u201cHow close to the truth can I tell my lie?\u201d You know? \u201cCan I just twist it a little bit?\u201d Because that will make it easier to lie.<\/p>\n
The other thing my sources mentioned was to appear open, friendly and approachable. You know, you want people to like you\u2014and this is a thing that comes up on the show The Traitors …<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Actually, several times. People say, \u201cI can\u2019t distinguish between whether I trust someone or whether I like them.\u201d And that just plays into the traitors\u2019 hands perfectly because it\u2019s hard to tell sometimes. So being friendly, approachable, sharing things about yourself, that will all make people trust you more.<\/p>\n
The other thing is to remind yourself it\u2019s a game, and this is something that the person who actually wins Traitors, Rob Rausch, does during the game, is think, \u201cThis is just a game. I feel really bad about all the lying.\u201d But I honestly think that is a good strategy for keeping the emotions out of it because, well, one of my sources told me, is that once you feel emotion about lying, that\u2019s when some tells might start to seep out and people pick up on the fact that you\u2019re lying.<\/p>\n
And the other thing to keep in mind is that lying can take a toll. I mean, it\u2019s not an easy thing to do for most of us. I\u2019ll speak for myself\u2014I\u2019m a terrible liar, and I think the stress would just overcome me if I was on a show like The Traitors. [Something that] Rob also mentions on the show is towards the end he says, \u201cThis is starting to take a toll on me. I feel bad about all this.\u201d And that\u2019s normal.<\/p>\n
And so I think keeping those things in mind will help overall make you a better liar.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: So was Rob a great traitor?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: I think he is one of the best traitors on the show, and the host, Alan Cumming, has said so as well on some of the press tour to promote The Traitors. I think it\u2019s because he doesn\u2019t deviate much from his persona, sort of, this kind of little more quiet, a little more soft-spoken guy.<\/p>\n
And I think one thing that comes up a lot on the show itself is people are distracted by his looks. Multiple cast members have said they\u2019re distracted by how good-looking he is …<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Which is a thing in the research [that] plays out in terms of lie detection or trustworthiness. Actually, there\u2019s some research that suggests that the better-looking a defendant is in a criminal-justice case, the lighter the sentence they might get, which is just bizarre to me. I mean, that seems really worrying on its own but something that you could, in a sense, take advantage of in a game like The Traitors.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Pretty privilege is real.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Yeah.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: So basically, what I\u2019m hearing is: if you wanna be an effective liar, be pretty, don\u2019t deviate too much from your expected persona, and try as much as you can to keep your emotions out of it. It\u2019s almost in some ways like, on the show, if you can treat it like you\u2019re acting and you\u2019re playing a role, it becomes easier because actors aren\u2019t lying; they\u2019re playing a character.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: I definitely think that\u2019s true, although the downside is, on the show, if you are a known actor, it may make people suspicious of you to begin with [Laughs] …<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
Mogensen: But in theory, that would be a good strategy\u2014and be likable. I mean, on the show, Michael Rapaport, an actor …<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Was basically voted out very early on, and the cast members were open about why, which was they just did not like him, which, it sounds kind of harsh, but, you know, they essentially said, \u201cYou\u2019re either a really bad traitor or just a faithful who\u2019s getting in the way.\u201d And so they voted him out quite early. So something to keep in mind.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Okay, so be likable. I will do my best. [Laughs.] No, this is …<\/p>\n
Mogensen: I think you\u2019re crushing it. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
Mogensen: You would be great.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: This has been lovely. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us today.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciated it, and I really had a fun time writing this story, and so I hope people check it out, and they check out The Traitors and come back and read the story and see if they think it played out this season.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Where can they find the story?<\/p>\n
Mogensen: It\u2019s on ScientificAmerican.com, and you can look me up\u2014I\u2019m Jackie Flynn Mogensen. You can find it on my author page, too.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: Perfect. Thank you so much.<\/p>\n
Mogensen: Thank you so much for having me.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Louis: That\u2019s our show. Join us on Friday, when we take a deep dive into the secretary of health and human services\u2019 impact so far and the ideology that guides his decision-making.<\/p>\n
Science Quickly is produced by me, Kendra Pierre-Louis, along with Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.<\/p>\n
For Scientific American, this is Kendra Pierre-Louis. See you next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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