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Effects of motivation to lie on misrepresentation and memory errors
Brady, Sara Elizabeth
Brady, Sara Elizabeth
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[Fort Worth, Tex.] : Texas Christian University,
Date
2013
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Abstract
Past research has shown that when people describe or imagine events that did not actually occur, they can later mistakenly remember that those events did occur. These memory errors can occur even for their own actions, including past attitude reports. In addition, the more people misrepresent past actions, the greater the memory errors. The present experiments investigated two motivational factors that might cause people to differ spontaneously in the extent to which they lie about their own past attitude-relevant actions. Experiment 1 tested whether single college students would misrepresent their own previous attitude reports more to a disagreeing opposite-sex student who was single than to one who was already in a committed relationship. Experiment 2 tested whether college students would misrepresent their own previous attitude reports more to a disagreeing same-sex student who could reward them than to one who could not. Both experiments further tested whether differences in the level of misrepresentation would cause differences in what participants remembered about their own previous attitude reports. Although participants in Experiment 1 misrepresented their past attitude reports when given an opportunity to lie, the single vs. committed manipulation caused no differences in the level of misrepresentation or memory. The reward manipulation in Experiment 2 did cause differences in both the level of misrepresentation and memory. The results are discussed in terms of source monitoring framework, false memories, differences between memory and attitude processes, and self-deception.
Contents
Subject
Subject(s)
Motivation (Psychology)
Attitude (Psychology)
Memory.
Truthfulness and falsehood.
Attitude (Psychology)
Memory.
Truthfulness and falsehood.
Research Projects
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Journal Issue
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Dissertation
Description
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Department
Psychology