Marc-Andre Reinhard

Universität Kassel · Department of Psychology

Introduction: The depressive realism hypothesis suggests that depressed individuals have a more realistic perception than nondepressed. Most studies depict the effects of depressive realism on self-perceptions. However, some lie detection studies suggest the effects of depressive realism on the perception of others. Our study investigated the hypot...

Several studies have investigated a potential positive association between agentic narcissism and general dishonesty, revealing both supportive and contradicting evidence. Few have focused on dishonesty within romantic relationships, a phenomenon that occurs in almost all partnerships. With the present research, we first aimed to extend existing li...

Five experiments (total number of judging participants = 1309, four different kinds of stimulus materials with a total of 464 messages, total number of judgements = 19,634) investigated the influence of personal uncertainty on the process of lie detection in social relationships. Building on and extending basic assumptions of uncertainty management...

While there exists recent research about greenwashing in the context of branding and product packaging as well as advertising, we investigated greenwashing detection depending on the cues colour and price of the product itself. We hypothesized: The more the product cues fit to the mental representation of the corresponding category-prototype of bio...

Research suggests that people differ more in their ability to lie than in their ability to detect lies. However, because studies have not treated senders and messages as separate entities, it is unclear whether some senders are generally more transparent than others or whether individual messages differ in their transparency of veracity regardless...

Objective: The present study investigates how airline pilot applicants prepare for a personnel selection procedure and how this relates to their deceptive and honest impression management (IM) in the job interview and their interview performance. Background: It is thus far unclear how preparation relates to IM in real-world and high-stakes settings...

Despite the clear existing theoretical links, ours is the first direct systematic series of studies investigating a potential negative association between Honesty-Humility and general dishonesty in romantic relationships. Eleven preregistered online studies with community samples were run (total N = 5,677). For a first test of our hypothesis, we co...

Lying is cognitively demanding and presumably requires self-regulation. According to ego depletion theory, a task that requires self-regulation should therefore impair an individual’s ability to tell a convincing lie in a later task. Consequently, it was hypothesized that a manipulation of ego depletion would enhance behavioral differences between...

Academic cheating is a problem that affects many educational institutions and has become increasingly significant with the new challenges of online education. Recent studies have found that learning goals are correlated with cheating behavior among students. In this study, we investigated whether learning goals are still a predictor of cheating beh...

Change can affect employee work behavior and well-being in a variety of ways. The mediating and moderating factors that produce these effects, however, are not fully understood. This study examines the mediating role of uncertainty on affective commitment and organizational attractiveness and assesses whether psychological empowerment can mitigate...

We examined whether female leaders would be evaluated less favorably compared to male leaders regarding workplace bullying. Previous research has demonstrated that women violating prescriptive gender norms of communality experience backlash, and that female leaders are stereotyped of having a communality deficit. Building on that, we hypothesized (...

Math anxiety’s negative effects on performance are well-documented. The interplay of math anxiety and mathematical competence regarding later performance is underexplored. We investigated whether math anxiety’s detrimental effects on learning depend on previous mathematical competence. Hypothesizing a moderation effect, we expected that trait math...

The present work documents our investigation of proximal (i.e., immediate) effects of existential threat on the process of lie detection. Specifically, we hypothesized that lie detection accuracy will be higher in a mortality salience (MS) condition compared with the control condition. In two lab-based studies ( N = 120; N = 109) and one internet s...

Previous research has produced mixed results on the question of whether confidence in ad hoc veracity judgments can be used as an indicator of judgment accuracy. These studies have used a variety of measures to analyze the confidence-accuracy relation- ship; however, they have rarely explicitly addressed why a particular measure was chosen and what...

We investigated whether the confidence in lie detection judgments is a signal for the accuracy of judgments. We argue that previous methods in tackling this question are inadequate as the assessment of judgment accuracy and confidence is confounded with response bias and lie detection performance. We addressed this confidence-accuracy puzzle by app...

Previous work has shown that challenging learning strategies like desirable difficulties improve long-term learning. Nonetheless, because they might be regarded as strict and demanding learning strategies, they should not be perceived as positive by everyone. They should, however, fit conservative political attitudes since those are, among others,...

Introduction: Depressive realism literature suggests that depressed individuals’ negative self-view is correlated with less self-serving positivity bias. Also, research suggests some social cognitive advantages for individuals with subclinical levels of depression (dysphoria), especially in identifying negative emotions. This study tested the hypot...

It has often been shown that tests as intentionally hindered and difficult learning tasks increase long-term learning compared to easier tasks. Previous work additionally indicated that higher intelligence might serve as a prerequisite for such beneficial effects of tests. Nevertheless, despite their long-term learning effects, tests were also foun...

Multiple frameworks and models postulate an effect of job interview preparation on faking. Two studies were conducted to examine if applicants’ interview preparation is correlated with higher faking. Besides analyzing the general extent of preparation, we also distinguished between different preparation categories. In Study 1 (N = 237), a presented...

Although difficult learning processes like tests are beneficial for later learning outcomes, learning situations including tests or quizzes can also be perceived as acute stressors leading to more pressure, anxiety, and stress. Thus, we suppose that participants evaluate learning situations with tests, contrary to reading tasks, as more negative an...

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that mortality salience (MS) leads to more negative perceptions of persons who oppose one’s worldview and to more positive perceptions of persons who confirm one’s worldview. Recent failed replications of classic findings have thrown into question empirical validity for this established idea. We believe, that t...

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that mortality salience (MS) leads to more negative perceptions of persons who oppose one’s worldview and to more positive perceptions of persons who confirm one’s worldview. Recent failed replications of classic findings have thrown into question empirical validity for this established idea. We believe, that t...

The present research examined lie detection abilities of a rarely investigated group, namely offenders. Results of the studies conducted thus far indicated a better performance of offenders compared to non-offenders when discriminating between true and false messages. With two new studies, we aimed at replicating offenders' superior abilities in th...

Desirable difficulties like tests were often shown to increase long-term learning. However, due to the complexity and difficulty of such tasks, they are also argued to result in negative consequences like stress, anxiety, pressure, frustration, or negative evaluations. In other studies, such consequences were, in turn, often found to increase disho...

Detecting lies is crucial in numerous contexts, including situations in which individuals do not interact in their native language. Previous research suggests that individuals are perceived as less credible when they communicate in a nonnative compared to a native language. The current study was the first to test this effect in truthful and fabrica...

Based on a functional approach to credibility judgments, the authors hypothesize that receivers’ judgments of senders’ credibility involve an evaluative dimension (i.e., good–bad) and are associated with approach and avoidance tendencies. In three experiments (total N = 645), participants (receivers) judged the credibility of suspects (senders) den...

Values, beliefs, and traits differ across individuals, and these concepts might impact whether individuals choose to engage in (dis)honest behavior. This project focuses on interindividual differences in Machiavellianism, which is defined as a tendency toward cynicism and manipulativeness, and the belief that the ends justify the means. We hypothes...

Intelligence is an important predictor of long-term learning and academic achievement. In two studies we focused on the relation among intelligence, desirable difficulties–active generation/production of information and taking tests–, and long-term learning. We hypothesized that intelligence is positively correlated to long-term learning and that d...

We examined if the benefits of generation for long-term learning depend on individual differences in performance expectancies (PEs) prior to learning. We predicted that a greater generative activity (problem-solving) compared to less generative activity (worked-examples) should be more effective for pupils with higher PEs, especially in the long ru...

The present cross-sectional study (N = 205) tested the hypothesis that the Dark Triad traits – narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy – and the PID-5 maladaptive personality traits – Negative Affectivity, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Psychoticism – are associated with specific deception-related perceptions: perceived cue-based...

According to terror management theory, in a first study (N = 80), we tested the hypothesis that heroic perceptions of historic heroes would become more positive under mortality salience. Results, however, showed the opposite effect – heroic perceptions were less positive. To explain this unexpected finding, we referred to a social comparison perspe...

Ostracism—being ignored and excluded by others—is a ubiquitous experience with adverse effects on well-being. To prevent further exclusion and regain belonging, ostracized individuals are well advised to identify affiliation partners who are sincerely well-disposed. Humans’ ability to detect lies, however, is generally not very high. Yet, veracity...

Self-generated information is better recognized and recalled than read information. This so-called generation effecthas been replicated several times for different types of stimulus material, different generation tasks, and retention intervals. The present study investigated the impact of individual differences in learners’ disposition to engage in...

People are easily tempted to engage in dishonest behavior when an incentive is given and when full anonymity is provided. In the present work, we investigated existential threat as a motivational factor that might reduce dishonest behavior. Research based on terror management theory has found that mortality salience increases the motivation to fulf...

The present work examines the influence of dispositional personal belief in a just world (BJW) on (dis)honest behavior and the moderating role of just-world threats. Assuming a positive link between personal BJW and striving for justice and sensitivity to injustice, we first expected dishonesty to be negatively linked to higher levels of personal B...

Mindfulness is a state of paying conscious and nonjudgmental attention to present‐moment experiences. Previous research relates this state to more effective emotion regulation and less emotion reactivity. We therefore hypothesized an attenuating effect of a mindfulness exercise on moral reactions that usually results from a bad conscience when havi...

Whether or not test-anxious students leverage the power of testing as potent learning tool is unclear. In a pilot study we investigated the relation of test anxiety to the utilization of testing activities and academic performance in self-regulated learning. We hypothesized that increased cognitive test anxiety would relate to less self-reported us...

This cross-sectional study (N = 325) investigated the relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits and the perception of artificial intelligence (AI) risk. Narrow AI risk perception was measured based on recently identified perceived risks in the public. Artificial general intelligence (AGI) risk perception was operationalized in terms of...

Based on a functional approach to credibility judgments, the authors hypothesize that receivers’ judgments of senders’ credibility involve an evaluative dimension (i.e., good–bad) and are associated with approach and avoidance tendencies. In three experiments (total N = 645), participants (receivers) judged the credibility of suspects (senders) den...

Previous research has indicated that individuals typically perform quite poorly in discerning truths from lies, and that confidence in judged veracity is not predictive of objective accuracy. In this experiment, we investigated the joint influence of construal level and judgment mode on detection accuracy and confidence. Participants (N = 161) watc...

We investigate the relationship between Need for Cognition (NFC), attitude towards and self-reported application of different desirable difficulties in self-regulated learning. Students with a higher NFC should be more appreciative and prone to use desirable difficulties because of a match between the learner’s attributes and the learning task requ...

According to the just-world theory, people need to – or rather want to – believe that they live in a just world where they will receive what they earn and consequently earn what they receive. In the present work, we examined the influence of people’s general and personal beliefs in a just world (BJW) on their (dis)honest behavior. Given that genera...

In explicit persuasion, the communicator states explicitly a desire to persuade the consumer. By referring to an attributional approach, social engagement was simultaneously explored as a beneficial communicator attribute, while cause-related marketing (CRM) was addressed as a boundary condition. In an experiment, we varied the persuasion strategy...

The Dark Triad traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy—have been found to be associated with intra- or interpersonal deception production frequency. This cross-sectional study (N = 207) investigated if the Dark Triad traits are also associated with deception detection accuracy, as implicated by the recent conception of a deception-gener...

Previous research found that introducing difficulties and challenges during learning has desirable outcomes. With the present work, we investigated the question how the use of and the attitudes toward such learning strategies (so-called desirable difficulties) are related to self-compassion, a concept that describes the tendency to be understanding...

While some difficult learning conditions can improve learning, the findings regarding the contribution to learning of disfluent, hard-to-read text materials have been inconsistent. We identified test delay and disfluency manipulations as factors potentially contributing to these discrepancies. We tested students' immediate and delayed memory perfor...

The study was conducted to investigate the elaboration and memorisation of the emotionally charged refugee debate with reference to the possible influences of empathic feelings, political attitude and mood. It was hypothesised that empathy towards refugees correlates positively with advanced elaboration and memorisation of the refugee debate. Parti...

Empirical studies have revealed that teachers face problems when assessing task difficulty for their students. By drawing on research that focuses on how individuals assess what others know, we argue that these difficulties are a consequence of the imputation of one’s own knowledge to others (i.e., social projection). In particular, we tested the a...

Cross-cultural research has indicated that bicultural individuals switch their behavioral patterns according to situational cultural frames. Based on self-categorization theory and evidence that being prototypical for an ingroup can increase ingroup identification, we investigated the idea that when being prototypical for a specific culture, bicult...

We examined for the first time whether achievement goal motivations differentially relate to students’ attitudes and self-reported use of desirable difficulties in personal learning. We argue that different achievement goals correspond with different levels of mental engagement, inclination to elaborate on learning content, and invested effort. We...

Edward Snowden has made significant personal sacrifices by revealing the truth about secret surveillance activities by the National Security Agency. According to research on terror management theory, reminding people of their own death strengthens worldview-bolstering reactions, such as following cultural standards and supporting people who uphold...

Previous research has suggested certainty to be an important factor when investigating effects of level of expectancies on future behavior. With the present study, we addressed the interplay of expectancy certainty and level of expectancies regarding task performance. We assumed that certain performance expectancies provide a better basis for the r...

With the present research, we investigated effects of existential threat on veracity judgments. According to several meta-analyses, people judge potentially deceptive messages of other people as true rather than as false (so-called truth bias). This judgmental bias has been shown to depend on how people weigh the error of judging a true message as...

According to expectancy-value theory, achievement motivation depends on the intrinsic value and the utility value of a task. The authors hypothesized that utility value determines achievement motivation only when it is formed in a systematic way, because analyzing the utility of a task is a process requiring cognitive capacity as well as cognitive...

Research on terror management theory has found evidence that people under mortality salience strive to live up to activated social norms and values. Recently, research has shown that mortality salience also increases adherence to the norm of reciprocity. Based on this, in the current paper we investigated the idea that mortality salience influences...

The present experimental study explores whether teachers are ‘clever’ thinkers when assessing students’ credibility, i.e., saving cognitive resources when possible and making accurate judgments. Participants were asked to decide whether student statements about using unfair means during a test were true or deceptive. First, participants’ own judgme...

Belief in a just world has been linked to high interpersonal trust and less suspicion of deception. We therefore predicted people with a strong dispositional belief in a just world to have low motivation to accurately detect deception. Accordingly, we hypothesized such a belief to be negatively related to accuracy in deception detection. Furthermor...

Individuals high in exchange orientation expect immediate and comparable rewards in order to establish exchange equality after they have provided rewards for others. Therefore, such individuals should be less likely than individuals low in exchange orientation to behave prosocially because doing such usually leads to exchange inequality (i.e., post...

Anti-fat bias is marked by a devaluation of overweight people compared with non-overweight persons. Even though belonging to the same group, research on social identity theory (SIT) indicates that overweight people also devaluate overweight others. Merging insights from research on anti-fat bias, SIT, and terror management theory, our study (n = 10...

According to social identity theory people are viewed as prototypical of a group to the extent that they possess ingroup characteristics but not outgroup characteristics. Based on this, previous research demonstrated that high-status group members (e.g., in the occupational field: men) may profit from failure in low-status domains, that is, domai...

The ability to distinguish between truthful and deceptive statements has been argued to be essential for social workers. The present study investigated the relationship between occupational experience, suspicion level, situational familiarity, judgemental truth or lie bias, and social workers' accuracy in detecting lie and truth. Each of the 125 so...

The capacity to identify cheaters is essential for maintaining balanced social relationships, yet humans have been shown to be generally poor deception detectors. In fact, a plethora of empirical findings holds that individuals are only slightly better than chance when discerning lies from truths. Here, we report 5 experiments showing that judges'...

Previous research has demonstrated that failure on a task may at times increase self-esteem, known as the failure-as-an-asset effect. This effect is observed when high-status group members (e.g., referring to management positions: men) show poor performance in a domain that is seen as a low-status domain—one in which the low-status group (e.g., ref...

Research on domain-specific sociometer theory suggests that individual mate value has a great influence on self-esteem. In this study (N = 124), we investigated the notion that perceived high gender typicality increases one’s perceived mate value and thus counteracts the usual decline in state self-esteem following negative feedback. The participan...

Research on effects of message repetition suggested an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of message repetitions and the attitude toward the message content. Furthermore, it was indicated that when people are processing persuasive health messages, they use source credibility as a cue for judgments about the message. Built on that, re...

This study investigated the ability of more or less experienced employment interviewers and laypersons to detect deception in employment interviews. Although correct beliefs about indicators of deception led to higher deception detection accuracy, more experienced employment interviewers did not show more accurate beliefs about indicators of decept...

Research on terror management theory has found evidence that people under mortality salience strive to live up to salient cultural norms and values, such as egalitarianism, pacifism, or helpfulness. A basic and strong internalized norm in most human societies is the norm of reciprocity: People should support those who have supported them, and peopl...

Lie catchers are often barely better than chance. In this experiment, we investigated the influence of manipulated perceived familiarity with a situation that measured participants’ ability to correctly classify lies and truths. As expected, participants in the high-familiarity condition showed substantially (21%) greater classification accuracy fo...

Zwei Studien untersuchen den Zusammenhang von Need for Cognition und der Fähigkeit, Lüge und Wahrheit zu erkennen, bei Lehramtsstudierenden. Den Grundannahmen von Zwei-Prozess-Modellen entsprechend führt ein höheres Need for Cognition zur vermehrten Nutzung inhaltlicher Informationen bei Glaubwürdigkeitsurteilen. Personen mit niedrigerem Need for C...

Lay theories about the tell tale signs of deception include numerous nonverbal cues; empirically, however, a focus on message content results in better lie detection than a focus on nonverbal elements. Feelings-as-information theory (Schwarz, 1990, 2012) predicts that systematic processing of message content is more likely under sad than happy mood...

Purpose For police officers, the ability to distinguish between truthful and deceptive statements in interrogations is essential. However, research shows that their classification accuracy is typically rather low. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ability to detect deception as a function of perceived experience, in a sample of German...

Research on terror management theory found evidence that people under mortality salience strive to live up to salient cultural norms and values, like egalitarianism, pacifism, or helpfulness. A basic, strongly internalized norm in most human societies is the norm of reciprocity: people should support those who supported them (i.e., positive recipro...

The present study explores how well teacher trainees can detect liars. Moreover, a new method was applied to investigate beliefs that teacher trainees hold about liars. The results indicate that, overall, teacher trainees were not better than chance in detecting true and invented stories. Generally, participants reported to have used only a few cue...

Credibility judgments are common and consequential in many applied settings. Although much research has addressed human observers' ability to discriminate true and deceptive statements, less is known about the psychological processes involved in such judgments. Here, it is proposed that the process of mustering evidence for or against credibility i...

In two experiments, recent findings showing the detrimental role of regulatory depletion in decision making are extended to the field of deception detection. In both experiments, the state of ego depletion was induced by having judges inhibit versus non-inhibit a dominant response while transcribing a text. Subsequently they judged true or deceptiv...

Research on the effects of event sponsorship has focused mainly on the consequences for brand equity of the association between a sponsor and a sponsored event. However, the effects of management's decision to exit from a sponsorship have received little empirical consideration. The studies reported here were carried out to fill this gap by systema...

Four experiments investigated the influence of situational familiarity within a judgmental context on the process of credibility attribution. We predicted that high familiarity with a situation would lead to higher efficacy expectations for, and a more pronounced use of, verbal information when making judgments of credibility. Under low situational...

The importance of performance expectancies for the prediction of regulation of behavior and actual performance has long been established. Building on theories from the field of social cognition, we suggest that the level of performance expectancies, as well as the certainty of the expectancy, have a joint influence on an individual’s beliefs and be...