Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the bourgeoning field of true and false intentions. A statement of true intent refers to a future action which a speaker intends to carry out, while a statement of false intent refers to a future action which a speaker claims, but does not intend to carry out. An ability to distinguish between such statements holds great practical value for a myriad of professions. Despite this practical value, the topic of true and false intentions has largely been ignored by researchers, who typically focus on judging the veracity of statements concerning past events. The chapter defines key terms in the field, summarizes the extant research, and highlights recent theoretical developments and areas for future research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agosta, S., Castiello, U., Rigoni, D., Lionetti, S., & Sartori, G. (2011). The detection and the neural correlates of behavioral (prior) intentions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,23(12), 3888–3902. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00039.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T.
Ajzen, I. (2012). The theory of planned behavior. In P. A. M. Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 438–459). London: Sage.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1969). The prediction of behavioral intentions in a choice situation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,5(4), 400–416.
Ask, K., Granhag, P. A., Juhlin, F., & Vrij, A. (2013). Intending or pretending? Automatic evaluations of goal cues discriminate true and false intentions. Applied Cognitive Psychology,27(2), 173–177. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2893.
Bargh, J. A., Gollwitzer, P. M., Lee-Chai, A., Barndollar, K., & Trötschel, R. (2001). The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,81(6), 1014–1027. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1014.
Bond, C. F., Jr. & DePaulo, B. M. (2006). Accuracy of deception judgments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 214–234. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_2.
Calderon, S., Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P. A., & Ask, K. (2018). Drawing what lies ahead: False intentions are more abstractly depicted than true intentions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 32, 518–522. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3422.
Clemens, F., Granhag, P. A., & Strömwall, L. A. (2011). Eliciting cues to false intent. Law and Human Behavior,35(6), 512–522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9258-9.
Colwell, K., Hiscock-Anisman, C. K., Memon, A., Taylor, L., & Prewett, J. (2007). Assessment Criteria Indicative of Deception (ACID): An integrated system of investigative interviewing and detecting deception. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling,4(3), 167–180.
De Houwer, J. (2009). How do people evaluate objects? A brief review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass,3(1), 36–48.
DePaulo, B. M., Lindsay, J. J., Malone, B. E., Muhlenbruck, L., Charlton, K., & Cooper, H. (2003). Cues to deception. Psychological Bulletin,129(1), 74–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.1.74.
Fazio, R. H., Jackson, J. R., Dunton, B. C., & Williams, C. J. (1995). Variability in automatic activation as an unobtrusive measure of racial attitudes: A bona fide pipeline? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,69(6), 1013.
Fazio, R. H., Sanbonmatsu, D. M., Powell, M. C., & Kardes, F. R. (1986). On the automatic activation of attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,50(2), 229.
Fenn, E., McGuire, M., Langben, S., & Blandón-Gitlin, I. (2015). A reverse order interview does not aid deception detection regarding intentions. Frontiers in Psychology,6, 1298. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01298.
Ferguson, M. J. (2007). On the automatic evaluation of end-states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,92(4), 596. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.596.
Ferguson, M. J., & Bargh, J. A. (2004). Liking is for doing: The effects of goal pursuit on automatic evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,87(5), 557–572. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.557.
Finnish college gunman kills 10. (2008). BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk.
Förster, J., Liberman, N., & Friedman, R. S. (2007). Seven principles of goal activation: A systematic approach to distinguishing goal priming from priming of non-goal constructs. Personality and Social Psychology Review,11(3), 211–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868307303029.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist,54(7), 493–503. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Brandstätter, V. (1997). Implementation intentions and effective goal pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,73(1), 186.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology,38, 69–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1.
Granhag, P. A. (2010). On the psycho-legal study of true and false intentions: Dangerous waters and some stepping stones. The Open Criminology Journal,3, 37–43. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874917801003010037.
Granhag, P. A., & Hartwig, M. (2015). The Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique: A conceptual overview. In P. A. Granhag, A. Vrij, & B. Verschuere (Eds.), Deception detection: New challenges and cognitive approaches (pp. 231–251). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Granhag, P. A., & Knieps, M. (2011). Episodic future thought: Illuminating the trademarks of forming true and false intentions. Applied Cognitive Psychology,25(2), 274–280. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1674.
Granhag, P. A., & Mac Giolla, E. (2014). Preventing future crimes: Identifying markers of true and false intent. European Psychologist,19(3), 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000202.
Hartwig, M., Granhag, P. A., Strömwall, L. A., & Kronkvist, O. (2006). Strategic use of evidence during police interviews: When training to detect deception works. Law and Human Behavior,30(5), 603–619. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-006-9053-9.
Knieps, M., Granhag, P. A., & Vrij, A. (2013a). Back to the future: Asking about mental images to discriminate between true and false intentions. The Journal of Psychology,147(6), 619–640. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2012.728542.
Knieps, M., Granhag, P. A., & Vrij, A. (2013b). Repeated visits to the future: Asking about mental images to discriminate between true and false intentions. International Journal of Advances in Psychology,2(2), 93–102.
Knieps, M., Granhag, P. A., & Vrij, A. (2014). Been there before? Examining “familiarity” as a moderator for discriminating between true and false intentions. [Original Research]. Frontiers in Psychology,5, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00677.
Lewin, K. (1935). A dynamic theory of personality. New York: McGaw-Hill.
Mac Giolla, E. (2016). Towards a theory of true and false intentions. (Doctoral thesis), Departement of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Retrieved from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/43237/1/gupea_2077_43237_1.pdf.
Mac Giolla, E., & Granhag, P. A. (2015). Detecting false intent amongst small cells of suspects: Single versus repeated interviews. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling,12, 142–157. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1419.
Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P. A., & Ask, K. (2017a). A goal-activation framework of true and false intentions. Applied Cognitive Psychology,31, 678–684. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3366.
Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P. A., & Ask, K. (2017b). Task-related spontaneous thought: A novel direction in the study of true and false intentions. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition,6(1), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.04.010.
Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P. A., & Liu-Jönsson, M. (2013). Markers of good planning behavior as a cue for separating true and false intent. PsyCh Journal,2(3), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.36.
Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P. A., & Vrij, A. (2015). Discriminating between true and false intentions. In P. A. Granhag, A. Vrij, & B. Verschuere (Eds.), Deception detection: Current challenges and new approaches (pp. 155–173). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Malle, B. F., & Knobe, J. (1997). The folk concept of intentionality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,33(2), 101–121. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1996.1314.
Malle, B. F., & Knobe, J. (2001). The distinction between desire and intention: A folk-conceptual analysis. In B. F. Malle, L. J. Moses, & D. A. Baldwin (Eds.), Intentions and intentionality: Foundations of social cognition (pp. 45–68). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Malle, B. F., Moses, L. J., & Baldwin, D. A. (2001). Intentions and intentionality: Foundations of social cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Mann, S., Vrij, A., Leal, S., Granhag, P. A., Warmelink, L., & Forrester, D. (2012). Windows to the soul? Deliberate eye contact as a cue to deceit. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-012-0132-y.
Mann, S., Vrij, A., Nasholm, E., Warmelink, L., Leal, S., & Forrester, D. (2012). The direction of deception: Neuro-linguistic programming as a lie detection tool. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology,27(2), 160–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-011-9097-8.
Martin, L. L., & Tesser, A. (2009). Five markers of motivated behavior. In G. B. Moskowitz & H. Grant (Eds.), Psychology of goals. London: The Guilford Press.
Meijer, E. H., Verschuere, B., & Merckelbach, H. (2010). Detecting criminal intent with the concealed information test. Open Criminology Journal,3, 44–47. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874917801003020044.
Meixner, J. B., & Rosenfeld, J. P. (2011). A mock terrorism application of the P300-based concealed information test. Psychophysiology,48(2), 149–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01050.x.
Moskowitz, G. B. (2002). Preconscious effects of temporary goals on attention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,38(4), 397–404.
Mumford, M. D., Schultz, R. A., & Van Doorn, J. R. (2001). Performance in planning: Processes, requirements, and errors. Review of General Psychology,5(3), 213–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.5.3.213.
Pavlidis, I., Eberhardt, N. L., & Levine, J. A. (2002). Human behaviour: Seeing through the face of deception. Nature, 415(6867), 35. https://doi.org/10.1038/415035a.
Rosenfeld, J. P., Cantwell, B., Nasman, V. T., Wojdac, V., Ivanov, S., & Mazzeri, L. (1988). A modified, event-related potential-based guilty knowledge test. International Journal of Neuroscience,42(1–2), 157–161.
Sartori, G., Agosta, S., Zogmaister, C., Ferrara, S. D., & Castiello, U. (2008). How to accurately detect autobiographical events. Psychological Science,19(8), 772–780.
Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., & Buckner, R. L. (2008). Episodic simulation of future events. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,1124(1), 39–60. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.001.
Simon, H. A. (1978). Rationality as process and as product of thought. The American Economic Review, 68, 1–16.
Sokolov, E. N. (1963). Higher nervous functions: The orienting reflex. Annual Review of Physiology,25(1), 545–580.
Sooniste, T. (2015). Discriminating between true and false intentions: Questions to pose and cues to use. (Doctoral thesis), Departement of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Retrieved from https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/38724.
Sooniste, T., Granhag, P. A., Knieps, M., & Vrij, A. (2013). True and false intentions: Asking about the past to detect lies about the future. Psychology, Crime & Law,19(8), 673–685. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316x.2013.793333.
Sooniste, T., Granhag, P. A., Strömwall, L. A., & Vrij, A. (2016). Discriminating between true and false intent among cells of suspects. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 21(2), 344–357. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12063.
Spence, S. A., Farrow, T. F., Herford, A. E., Wilkinson, I. D., Zheng, Y., & Woodruff, P. W. (2001). Behavioural and functional anatomical correlates of deception in humans. NeuroReport,12(13), 2849–2853.
Strachman, A., & Gable, S. L. (2006). What you want (and do not want) affects what you see (and do not see): Avoidance social goals and social events. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,32(11), 1446–1458.
Suchotzki, K., Verschuere, B., Crombez, G., & De Houwer, J. (2013). Reaction time measures in deception research: Comparing the effects of irrelevant and relevant stimulus–response compatibility. Acta Psychologica,144(2), 224–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.06.014.
Szpunar, K. K. (2010). Episodic future thought an emerging concept. Perspectives on Psychological Science,5(2), 142–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691610362350.
Tolman, E. C. (1932). Purposive behavior in animals and men. California: University of California Press.
Trovillo, P. V. (1939). A history of lie detection. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1931–1951),29, 848–881.
Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., & Granhag, P. A. (2013). Spatial and temporal details in intentions: A cue to detecting deception. Applied Cognitive Psychology,27(1), 101–106. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2878.
Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., Jundi, S., & Granhag, P. A. (2012). The effect of question expectedness and experience on lying about intentions. Acta Psychologica,141(2), 178–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.07.011.
Warmelink, L., Vrij, A., Mann, S., Leal, S., Forrester, D., & Fisher, R. P. (2011). Thermal imaging as a lie detection tool at airports. Law and Human Behavior,35(1), 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9251-3.
Verschuere, B., Ben-Shakhar, G., & Meijer, E. (2011). Memory detection: Theory and application of the concealed information test. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Verschuere, B., & Meijer, E. H. (2014). What’s on your mind? Detecting concealed information. European Psychologist,19, 162–171.
Vrij, A. (2015). A cognitive approach to lie detection. In P. A. Granhag, A. Vrij, & B. Verschuere (Eds.), Detecting deception: Current challenges and cognitive approaches (pp. 205–229). Chichester: Wiley.
Vrij, A., & Granhag, P. A. (2012). Eliciting cues to deception and truth: What matters are the questions asked. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition,1(2), 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2012.02.004.
Vrij, A., Granhag, P. A., Mann, S., & Leal, S. (2011). Lying about flying: The first experiment to detect false intent. Psychology, Crime & Law,17(7), 611–620. https://doi.org/10.1080/10683160903418213.
Vrij, A., Leal, S., Granhag, P. A., Mann, S., Fisher, R. P., Hillman, J., & Sperry, K. (2009). Outsmarting the liars: The benefit of asking unanticipated questions. Law and Human Behavior, 33(2), 159–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-008-9143-y.
Vrij, A., Leal, S., Mann, S. A., & Granhag, P. A. (2011). A comparison between lying about intentions and past activities: Verbal cues and detection accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology,25(2), 212–218. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1665.
Zangrossi, A., Agosta, S., Cervesato, G., Tessarotto, F., & Sartori, G. (2015). “I didn’t want to do it!” The detection of past intentions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,9, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00608.
Zeigarnik, B. (1939). On finished and unfinished tasks. In E. D. Ellis (Ed.), A source book of Gestalt psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace. (Original work published in 1927).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mac Giolla, E., Granhag, P.A. (2019). True and False Intentions: A Science of Lies About the Future. In: Docan-Morgan, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96334-1_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96334-1_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96333-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96334-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)