Reading genuine distress as evidence of deception, because the innocent under suspicion display the same signs as the guilty.
Ekman's term, from Othello reading Desdemona's fear as proof of guilt. It is the central problem for all demeanour-based credibility assessment, including in asylum and criminal proceedings.
In practice
- An innocent employee in a disciplinary meeting shows exactly the distress an evasive one would, and the panel reads it as guilt.
- An asylum applicant recounting real trauma inconsistently is scored as inconsistent, and trauma produces inconsistency.
- Standing
- A central problem for all demeanour-based credibility assessment.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Decision-making & Reasoning
- Essay
- The catalogue of predictable errors