Communicating, therefore, means transmitting information, of a different nature, thus ensuring a flow of incoming and outgoing information. It is a wide phenomenon involving different processes, both verbal and non-verbal. It is communicated for various purposes: to express an opinion, to show interest, to reach objectives, and each communicative situation carries out a certain function depending on the type of content to be expressed.
Communication could show implicit aspects, i.e. how much you intend to communicate, and explicit aspects, i.e. what you actually communicate.
Communication, miscommunication and false communion
A communication in which the implicit aspects predominate over the explicit ones is defined as miscommunication. In this case, the communicative intention of the speaker is different from the real one, so there is an intentional communicative opacity. Miscommunication within a conversation increases and facilitates the communication possibilities between two or more speakers because it creates elements on which to continue to discuss.
There are different types of miscommunications, the main ones are: ironic, seductive and false.
Ironic communication is an oblique communication in which the real sense of what you intend to communicate is hidden. The irony expressed during a conversation does not show a single meaning, but different according to the interpretation given and for this reason, it represents the emblem of miscommunication.
Seductive communication never takes place at a direct level, but superficially to provoke and evoke the achievement of the purpose of the people taking part in the conversation.
Lies of communication, a well-known form of miscommunication, is a complex communicative phenomenon. Basically, the properties that characterize it are the lack of truthfulness of the content, awareness of this falsehood and intention to deceive the recipient. Therefore, the lie is a conscious communicative act and deliberately aimed at deceiving a person who is not aware, in turn, of being deceived.
Lack of communication also consists of non-verbal aspects, such as tone, speed of speech, posture and body movements, which play a crucial role in communication.
Lies are different from making a mistake, where the speaker is not aware of the falsehood of what he claims, and from fiction, whose purpose is to be discovered.
The lie is characterized by the purpose represented, which could be to
1. Omission, if the speaker hides important information for the listener;
2. Hiding, if the speaker adds information to mask the lack of hidden information;
3. Falsification, if the speaker gives untrue information;
4. Masking, the speaker introduces false information to conceal the true information.
Lies in communication and cognitive load theory
According to the theory of cognitive load, lying communication is complicated to sustain, since generating a message from nothing, which is credible keeping in mind the timing and details of what has been said, creates a considerable cognitive load. Moreover, the lie can be planned in advance, or spontaneous because it is generated instantly. Moreover, it may be high in emotional content and full of detail or low in content and therefore not very emotional and not very detailed.
According to manipulation information theory, lies represent a particular type of communication, that is, a communication within which all or some conversational maxims such as those of quantity, truth, clarity, and relevance are intentionally and consciously violated. Instead, the theory of interpersonal deception and false miscommunication defines falsehood as a form of communication in its own right and distinct from untruthful communication and underlines its strategic aspect, considering it a communication that develops through moves and countermeasures by the two speakers to deceive and not is deceived.
In particular, strategic communication is obtained when the speaker shows himself in a credible way, through the implementation of ambiguous and irrelevant messages, full of pauses, with little visual interaction and manages to remove any suspicion by showing himself smiling and available. We speak of non-strategic lying communication when the liar is not able to control his own speech, presenting different emotional discomforts and communicative incompetence.
Lies in communication: the characteristics
Anolli has identified characteristics related to the false style:
- Ambiguity: use of dubitative modifiers in speech, as almost, perhaps, and use of epistemic preachers as I think, I believe;
- Prolissity, length in expressing one's thoughts full of unnecessary details;
- Assertiveness and elliptical avoidance, which consist in approaching or fleeing from situations that could lead to revealing the truth;
- Impersonalizations, frequent use of pronouns in the third person and non-verbal styles with increased or decreased motor activity but without a fixed and recurrent repertoire.
In the clinical field, there are several disorders, which present false behaviors, in order to obtain benefits such as antisociality, narcissistic disorder, histrionics, and drug addiction.
In general, lying could be determined by several causes, such as escaping punishment, obtaining a difficult reward, protecting another person, gaining the admiration of others and obtaining consent.