Seeing through crocodile tears? Sex-specific associations between the Dark Triad traits and lie detection accuracy

Although overall people are poor at lie detection, the accuracy depends on the situation (e.g., high versus low-stakes), as well as the characteristics of the person detecting the lie. In an on-line experiment (N = 347), we explored the relationship between the Dark Triad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), and accuracy in detecting lies in high-stakes, emotional TV appeals. The participants filled in a 27-item Dark Triad measure, and watched 20 video-clips of people appealing to find a missing person, half of whom had murdered the person they were appealing to find. In both cross-correlational and regression analyses, Machiavellianism had a significant positive relationship with accuracy in women, and narcissism had a significant negative relationship with accuracy in men. Our results suggest that the Dark Triad is a relevant individual difference affecting lie detection, but it has different correlates for men and women.