Reconsidering the Role of Intentionality in Deceptive Communication

Abstract

Traditional models of deceptive communication approach message production from a top-down, conscious-centric point of view. Information Manipulation Theory 2 and Truth Deception Theory challenge this assumption by arguing that the intent to deceive can occur during and after attempts to mislead have been enacted. I argue that this conceptual shift in our understanding of deceptive message production may be helpful to scholars studying the use of deception in relational contexts.