Cross-cultural deception in social networking sites and face-to-face communication

Abstract

Deception research has been primarily studied from a Western perspective, so very little is known regarding how other cultures view deception. Cross-cultural deception research is important due to the escalation of cross-cultural communication. Therefore, this study proposes a framework for understanding the role Korean and American culture plays in deceptive behavior for both face-to-face (FTF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC). The goal of this paper is to test theoretical explanations about the role of culture in deception by the development of a set of hypotheses predicting the conditions under which deception is likely to emerge. A research strategy and construct measures to test the hypotheses are presented. Results from online questionnaires indicated Korean respondents exhibited greater collectivist values, lower levels of power distance, and higher levels of masculine values than Americans. Furthermore, deceptive behavior was greater for FTF communication than for CMC for both Korean and American respondents. In addition to a significant relationship between culture and deception, differences were found between espoused cultural values and deceptive behavior, regardless of national culture. These results indicate the need for future research to consider cultural differences when examining deceptive behavior.