Lying is preventable and detectable.
Here's how:

Preventing lies

There are several well-established ways to reduce lying.

Reduce motivation to fake

People will only be motivated to lie if they think (a) they will get away with it, and (b) it is in their best interest. This motivation can be greatly reduced by:

  • Including lie-detector scales on questionnaires
  • Letting people know that a lie-detector is included in the assessment
  • Having follow-ups to verify that responses are truthful
  • Telling people that honest responders will be given preference
Reduce ability to fake

Minimizing ability to fake is part of good questionnaire design. It includes:

  • Using subtle items (it's hard to fake when there's no clear "right" answer)
  • Choosing items that show robustness against faking
  • Avoiding items that are highly desirable or undesirable
  • Using knowledge-based items
  • Forced-choice questionnaire formats

Detecting lies

Our personality assessments have a built-in lie detector scale.

When people try to "fake good", it creates a consistent pattern of responses. We identify that pattern and alert landlords when faking has been detected.

Personality Assessments

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