Dominance and Deception in Children and Adults: Are Leaders the Best Misleaders?

Abstract

Relationships between dominance and nonverbal deception skill were investigated in preschool children (Study 1) and in under-graduate men and women (Study 2). Subjects were assessed for dominance during peer group interactions. Later, they encoded and decoded deceptive messages. Raters assessed the credibility of each subject's encoded message using nonverbal cues alone. Ability to encode credible, deceptive messages predicted dominance in preschool children and men but not women. Decoding deception accurately from nonverbal cues was unrelated to dominance. Videotapes of subjects' performances were examined for nonverbal behaviors predictive of deception success. Very young children successfully masked their deception by smiling. Successful adult deceivers made eye contact with the listener and inhibited smiling while delivering deceptive messages. Overall, results were generally consistent with a social skills approach to dominance in which manipulative ability is believed to be integral to achieving and maintaining social power.

Deception and subtypes of aggression during early childhood

“…The findings from this study are in keeping with past theory and results found within the social dominance and delinquency/conduct problems literatures (e.g., Keating & Heltman, 1994;Stouthamer-Loeber, 1986). The current research confirms past studies that have found deception, lying, and false statement behaviors in young children.…”

“…Given past associations with deception and the conceptually related social dominance construct (Keating & Heltman, 1994) as well as with delinquency and physical aggression/conduct problems (Lahey et al, 1999;Loeber & Dishion, 1983;Stouthamer-Loeber, 1986), we predicted that both physical aggression and relational aggression would be associated with concurrent deception. Because both physical aggression and relational aggression have been found to have gender-specific associations with key developmental constructs, we tested for the moderation of these associations by gender.…”

“…Researchers have documented that children who score high on both prosocial and coercive (i.e., aggressive) strategies, or who are sometimes referred to as ''bistrategic'' children (Hawley, 2003), also tend to be high on the ability to deceive others (Braginsky, 1970). Keating and Heltman (1994) found a link between childrenÕs social dominance and nonverbal deception capacities, but they did not assess aggressive behavior.…”

The Ontogenesis of Social Dominance: A Strategy-Based Evolutionary Perspective

“…The acquisition of such social knowledge has been for several decades a focus of those studying cognitive and social development (e.g., Kohlberg, 1969;Piaget, 1965;Selman, 1976;Wellman, 1990). By late preschool or kindergarten, children have refined their abilities to coordinate and cooperate with peers (Cook & Stingle, 1974) as well as to deceive them (Keating & Heltman, 1994;LaFreniere, 1988).…”

It Doesn't Matter what you Wear: The Impact of Posed and Genuine Expressions of Happiness on Product Evaluation

“…Posed smiles, in contrast, are not accompanied by feelings of happiness but are displayed by the sender "as if" they were happy. Such posed smiles may be exhibited for a variety of reasons -for example, in order to endear oneself to others, or to put them at ease (Hecht & LaFrance, 1998;Provine, 1997), as an attempt to manipulate or deceive others (Keating & Heltman, 1994) or in order to mask other emotional experiences (Ekman & Friesen, 1982). In social contexts it is important for perceivers not to conflate posed and genuine smiles into a general, amorphous form of positive facial expression and risk misperceiving happiness, and potentially the behavioral intentions of the smiler.…”