Risky Business or Managed Event? Perceptions of Power and Deception in the Workplace

The workplace poses unique challenges for liars, especially for deception between supervisors and subordinates. To that end, the current study examined deception in the workplace between supervisors and subordinates to explore perceptions of deception and the relationship between power and deception. Participants were recruited from organizations and universities and reported their perceptions of power in their manager-subordinate relationships, perceptions of deception, and perceptions of the risk involved with a recent lie they told to a supervisor or subordinate. Results indicated that the perceived power difference between supervisors and subordinates was substantial, power impacted perceptions of deception in the workplace and how deceptive messages were crafted, and very few of the reported lies were detected. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.