Dr. Catalina Toma presents on Deception

Abstract:

Deception is a fact of everyday life, with people lying frequently to achieve interpersonal goals, such as managing impressions and relationships. As much social interaction has migrated to online environments, so have concerns about the prevalence of deception in these spaces: How much do people lie when interacting with each other online as opposed to face-to-face? How does technology shape the prevalence of interpersonal deception? In this talk, I will review the literature on this topic, with special emphasis on research I and my collaborators have conducted on people’s beliefs about the prevalence of deception across new communication technologies, and whether these beliefs reflect actual patterns of deceptiveness. I will pay special attention to how features and affordances of online environments (e.g., recordability, editability) are perceived to either constrain or promote deceptiveness.

About the Speaker:

Catalina Toma is an Associate Professor of Communication Science in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research is concerned with how people understand and relate to one another when interacting via new communication technologies (e.g., online dating, social network sites, texting). She examines how relational processes such as self-presentation, deception, and psychological well-being are shaped by the affordances and limitations of mediated environments. She currently serves as Associate Editor at Human Communication Research and Computers in Human Behavior.