Deceptive message processing: The role of attachment style and verbal intimacy markers in deceptive message judgments

Accuracy in detecting deception has been the focus of much research, and arguably this work has produced few firm conclusions about factors that increase or reduce detection accuracy. Consequently, this research explores factors that influence judgments about message deceptiveness. Results indicate that secure and anxious‐ambivalent respondents rated messages as more truthful in the presence of intimacy markers, whereas avoidant‐fearful and dismissing respondents were relatively likely to perceive the same messages as deceptive. Various consequences of this outcome are discussed, including implications for research on the truth‐bias heuristic.