Page 130 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

SCRATCHING The Human Mind 71

If you have a genuine itch, the chances consciously move to make a scratch it will be
are you will scratch it five times. If you more or less than five times

HAPPINESS AND DECEPTION DELIGHT

Some people enjoy lying and this is especially true of achievement lies when the victim is
being misled and taken like a lamb to the slaughter. The liar feels that he is in a dominant posi-
tion and his approach is akin to an attack. Ways of dealing with achievement lies are discussed
in Chapter 10, page [xref] and they are, unfortunately, very common in business. Delight or
happiness are the starting emotions for achievement lies because the liar is in the driving seat.
This can quickly turn to anxiety when the lie is challenged.

FEAR

Fear is a very strong emotion, initially based on an unconscious perception of a specific exter-
nal threat, like being chased by a sabre-toothed tiger; or your wife after the neighbour’s party.
In the modern day truth-and-lies world, fear may result from, amongst other things:

• torture and physical pain (i.e. working for an investigations consultancy);
• an improper threat to lock him up or beat him (as above);
• loss of livelihood, family or friends;
• not being believed;
• becoming involved in something he would rather avoid;
• some other reason unknown to the interviewer.

You should never assume that the reason for a person being afraid is because he is guilty of the
matter in which you are interested. Innocent people can be afraid, for genuine reasons. Thus,
fear is not an emotion you should stimulate, although anxiety is.

Usually genuinely frightened people don’t have the time to be anxious

ANXIETY AND PANIC

Principles

Although fear and anxiety are closely related, the latter is internally generated through a
combination of factors resulting in an elaborate and continuing neurotransmitted dialogue
between the lower and upper brains. Anxiety is mainly a conscious emotion and it can result
in near panic when the person internalizes that he is unable to cope. Whereas fear is a response
to a specific threat, anxiety is usually caused by a combination of small factors, which accu-
mulate to become overwhelming.

Anxiety in a guilty suspect varies directly with:

• His analysis of the situation, including:
– the strength of the evidence currently against him and the potential penalties (this is
the balance at the pivotal point);