Post-Report Interactions Make it Easier to Detect Bias, Including Self-Deception

What is it about?

When someone is trying to persuade someone else, they often self-deceive first. That is to say, they convince themselves of the truth of the message they are trying to convince others. The more someone self-deceives, the better they are at persuading/deceiving others. We define two types of bias: sincere bias is when a speaker persuades themselves of a lie before they push it on others; insincere bias is when they push a lie, but they don't believe it themselves. We find that when listeners can ask questions of speakers, they are naturally good at detecting the insincere bias, but they need help before they can identify the sincere bias. Listeners are better at detecting the sincere bias if they ask fact-based questions.

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Why is it important?

Conflicts of interest are pervasive in society. E.g., salespeople, financial advisors, company management, etc. It's crucial for listeners to be able to distinguish between the truth and lies in messages they are told. Identifying those lies is hard when speakers have "drunk the Kool-Aid" themselves. Our study finds that asking fact-based questions can help listeners avoid being deceived.