Content area
Full Text
This paper offers a preliminary exploration into how culture and cultural orientation influence the perception of deceptive messages. Information manipulation theory (IMT) posits that covert violations of Grice's four conversational maxims give rise to messages that are functionally deceptive. This study (N = 323) attempted to replicate previous IMT results regarding the perceptions of information manipulation in an academic situation, and with a culturally diverse sample. Locus of benefit (sey"and other) was manipulated, and the respondents' self-construal was assessed. Previous IMT findings were replicated, and the effects for self-construal on honesty ratings varied considerably by manipulation type. Explanations for these findings are provided, as are suggestions for future research.
Deception is one of the most significant and pervasive social phenomena of our age (Miller & Stiff, 1993), and has frequently been the focus of communication and psychological inquiry. Knapp, Hart, and Dennis (1974) suggest deception is "publicly condemned, yet privately practiced by a significant proportion of the population" (p. 15). Given the prevalence of deception in interactions, and that deceptive acts affect our personal, academic and professional lives (Burgoon & Buller, 1994; McCornack & Levine, 1990a; Miller & Stiff, 1993), it is not surprising that deception research continues to flourish.
While many aspects of deception have been explored at length (e.g., detection of deception and identification of nonverbal cues), recent deception research has shifted toward examining deceptive message design (e.g., Bavelas, Black, Chovil, & Mullett, 1990; Burgoon, Buller, Guerrero, Afifi, Feldman, 1996; McCornack, 1992). This research, however, has viewed deceptive messages from a Western perspective, and has failed to consider how those from non-Western cultures might view deception and deceptive messages.
Examination of communication processes in different cultures is essential given that communication is not only an integral part of culture, but also the primary means whereby culture is transmitted (Hamnett & Brislin, 1980). Advances in communication technology and a shift toward a global economy will serve to increase opportunity for intercultural interaction. There is a vast amount of variability in interpersonal communication processes across cultures which has not been explored by those studies examining only one culture (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). The generalizability of those deception studies conducted in the United States is questionable without examining the role of culture (O'Hair, Cody, Wang,...