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Unchallenged Deceptions in Social and Professional Relationships

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The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication

Abstract

The Russian word Vranyo describes social interactions where a speaker lies, an audience realizes that they are being lied to, and both parties pretend that nothing deceptive is happening. Scholarship on deceptive communication often focuses on problems in detecting deception and less on how audiences react to perceived lies. One reaction is to appear gullible and not confront liars. When deceptions are identifiable, why do audiences decide not to accuse speakers of lying? Drawing on sociological theories, this chapter presents five explanations for unchallenged deceptions: conforming by helping people sustain normal appearances, power inequalities, relationship maintenance, burden of proof issues, and pursuing individual ambition. The chapter concludes by suggesting questions for further research on unchallenged deceptions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA

    David Shulman

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  1. David Shulman
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Correspondence to David Shulman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Studies, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA

    Tony Docan-Morgan

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Shulman, D. (2019). Unchallenged Deceptions in Social and Professional Relationships. In: Docan-Morgan, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96334-1_27

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