Psychology and the Detection of Lying
| Author | Beresford Kingsford |
| Published date | 01 October 1935 |
| Date | 01 October 1935 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3500800410 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Psychology and the Detection
of
Lying
By BERESFORD
KINGSFORD,
M.D.
ON
reading the psalmist's confession, " I said in my haste
all men are liars," a great detective is said to have
remarked:
"I
think Imight have said that at leisure ! "
But would such a sweeping generalization have been
justifiable ?Distinguished anthropologists have a rather
different tale to tell.
If
we go back to the earliest folk-lore
and literature of many peoples, says Elliott Smith,
"we
find
the story of a golden age embodied in their traditions, when
sin had not yet entered into the world. Hundreds of witnesses
have collected evidence which
reveals'
Natural
Man'
as a
naked, harmless, truthful child, good-natured, honest, and
considerate."
Sundry small tribes in the hills of India are noted for
their veracity; thus Sherwill writes:
"The
truth
is by a
Southal held
sacred";
and Forsyth says of other tribes in
India:
"The
aborigine is the most truthful
of
beings."
Similarly, the Wood Veddahs of Ceylon are described as
" proverbially truthful and honest ".
The
same is said of
tribes in North-West Siberia, of Hottentots, and of tribes in
North-West America, and of Patagonians.
Some of these tribes are peaceful, others are fond of
fighting: what have they in common besides a well-deserved
reputation for veracity?
The
answer is that none of them
are subject to coercive rule. Livingstone wrote of mendacity
as being much more annoying among the slaves than among
the free population of East Africa; untruthfulness, he added,
" is a sort of refuge for the weak and oppressed." And this
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