Ethnic Similarities and Differences in Linguistic Indicators of Veracity and Lying in a Moderately High Stakes Scenario

One technique for examining written statements or interview transcripts for verbal cues of veracity and lying involves the analysis of linguistic features and grammatical structures associated with word usage. This technique is commonly referred to as Statement Analysis (SA). There are varying degrees of empirical support for different SA techniques and for specific linguistic markers; what is less known in the literature is the degree to which verbal indicators of veracity and lying vary across cultures or ethnicities. In this study participants from four cultural/ethnic groups participated in an adapted version of a mock-theft scenario in which participants were either asked to steal a check and lie about it to investigators or not steal a check and tell the truth. After being assigned to the steal-lie/don’t steal-truth condition, each participant engaged in three interviews, two prior to committing the crime (screening and secondary interviews) and one afterwards (investigative interview). Prior to the third investigative interview participants were asked to write a statement. The responses provided in the interviews and written statement were coded according to several empirically validated categories of SA. Some linguistic markers differentiated truths from lies across people of different ethnic/cultural backgrounds. Post-hoc analyses indicated interesting ethnic group differences in the base rates of usage for many of these categories but ethnicity did not moderate the veracity condition effects.