The logic behind lies: A rational approach to deceptive message production

Although researchers of deception have become increasingly interested in the production of deceptive messages, no attempt has been made to provide a conceptual basis for addressing deceptive message design. The goal of the current project was to develop a theoretical basis for addressing deceptive message design. Drawing upon O'Keefe's theory of message design logics (1988), it was argued that individual design logic should influence both perceptions of situational relevance and the information that is disclosed within multiple-goal contexts. Two hypotheses and a research question were developed and tested in a sample of 295 subjects. Results suggest that design logic significantly influenced perceptions of situational relevance, amount of sensitive information that was disclosed, and the manner in which the sensitive information was disclosed within multiple-goal contexts. Implications of these findings for future research in deceptive message production are discussed.