Liars don't actually mess up their stories as much as you think—trying to catch someone in a contradiction is a terrible way to spot a lie.
April 10, 2026
Original Paper
What does consistency reveal about credibility? Four meta-analyses
PsyArXiv · y97xg_v1
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The Takeaway
We often act like detectives, waiting for a liar to mess up their facts. But research shows that while external evidence can catch a lie, simply looking for internal inconsistencies in someone's story is almost useless for finding the truth.
From the abstract
Inconsistency is often viewed as a sign of deception, whereas consistency is taken as evidence of credibility. However, experts disagree on the extent to which consistency cues can inform credibility judgments. We conducted meta-analyses on four types of consistency (within-statement, between-statement, within-group, and statement-evidence), based on 257 effect sizes from 52 studies involving approximately 4370 participants. Moderator analyses examined factors such as delay between statements, r