Abstract
This study investigated whether high fantasy-prone individuals have superior storytelling abilities. It also explored whether this trait is related to specific linguistic features (i.e. self-references, cognitive complexity, and emotional words). Participants high (n = 30) and low (n = 30) on a fantasy proneness scale were instructed to write down a true and a fabricated story about an aversive situation in which they had been the victim. Stories were then examined using two verbal lie detection approaches: criteria-based content analysis (CBCA) and linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC). Irrespective of the truth status of the stories, independent observers rated stories of high fantasy-prone individuals as being richer in all nine CBCA elements than those of low fantasy-prone individuals. Furthermore, overall, high fantasy-prone people used more self-references in their stories compared with low fantasy-prone individuals. High fantasy prones' fabricated stories scored higher on various truth indices than authentic stories of low fantasy prones. Thus, high fantasy-prone people are good in creating a sense of authenticity, even when they fabricate stories. Forensic experts should bear this in mind when they employ verbal lie detection tools.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 247-260 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2010 |
Keywords
- ACCOUNTS
- ADOLESCENTS
- COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
- CUES
- DECEPTION
- EVENTS
- LANGUAGE
- LINGUISTIC STYLES
- STORY
- TRUTHFUL
- criteria-based content analysis
- false allegations
- fantasy proneness
- linguistic inquiry and word count
- verbal lie detection