A Goal‐Activation Framework of True and False Intentions

Abstract

We propose a novel cognitive framework to distinguish between statements of true and false intent based on research on goal-directed behaviour. A true intention comes with a commitment to carry out the stated intention. This commitment activates the behavioural goal of a true intention. In contrast, a false intention does not come with a commitment to carry out the stated intention. Hence, the behavioural goal of a stated false intention should be inactive. Active goals have profound and predictable influences on human behaviour. For instance, active goals influence planning, future thought and evaluations. Such influences are functional-they aid in goal attainment. Insofar as true intentions activate goals, but false intentions do not, the expected influences of active goals should be weaker or non-existent for those stating a false intention. The framework parsimoniously accounts for previous intention-focused deception studies while generating new directions for future research.

Linguistic concreteness of statements of true and false intentions.

“…Taken together, these frameworks suggest that truthful accounts should contain more sensory information, more contextual information, and more details that can be checked or verified. It seems reasonable that accounts containing more of these types of details should also be more concrete (but see Mac Giolla et al, 2017Giolla et al, , 2019, for a critical discussion on extending these theories to the context of true and false intentions).…”

Are Agatha, Dashiell, and Arthur alive? Assessing the link between hand movements and false intentions

“…The second reason concerns the fact that, irrespective of the advances of research in this area, professionals need to make evaluations about people's intentions on a daily basis. Without scientific support, a significant amount of judgements of intent will remain prejudiced and based on faulty assumptions (Mac Giolla, 2016). For these reasons, solid scientific research should endure, for "even slight improvements of practitioner's classification rates could have tremendous positive effects" (Mac Giolla, Granhag, & Vrij, 2015, p. 169).…”

“…Although we are very far from this futuristic scenario, the relationship between intentions and deception in a psycho-legal setting has been systematically studied since the publication of Granhag's (2010) pivotal work. Since then, more than twenty experimental studies have been published (for a review, see Mac Giolla, 2016).…”