“Boy Who Cried Wolf”

Although most people believe that they are able to detect when others are lying, research demonstrates that they are not able to do so. Interest in being able to know when another is lying has resulted in a variety of studies undertaken to examine this phenomenon. The boy-who-cried-wolf effect is a psychological heuristic, or simple learned rule, that helps explain how individuals make the decision that someone is lying. The boy-who-cried-wolf effect demonstrates that most observers are unable to distinguish the trait of trustworthiness from honesty, and is thus consistent with other research in the field. Once individuals believe that another person is lying, they tend to rate that person as generally untrustworthy. It also seems that once a negative evaluation of someone's trustworthiness has been formed, it is very difficult to change that assessment.

Attempts to determine human ability to detect when deception occurs as a part of interpersonal communication have taken place for over a century. The “Boy Who Cried Wolf” is one of Aesop's fables, a series of stories attributed to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece. Fables have long been viewed as a way to teach truths, especially to children. The “Boy Who Cried Wolf” involves a boy who works as a shepherd, guarding sheep that graze in a pasture near a village. The boy becomes bored watching the sheep, and periodically goes into the town and falsely tells the villagers that a wolf is attacking the sheep. After several such false alarms, the villagers resolve not to be tricked again and no longer put faith in the shepherd's statements. When a real wolf then appears and begins attacking the flock, the shepherd again seeks the villagers' assistance, but to no avail. As a result of the shepherd's prior deceptions, the villagers refuse to believe him and the flock of sheep is destroyed.

For over 2,500 years, the “Boy Who Cried Wolf” has been used as a moral example of the risks of deception, especially for children. The fable has great appeal because it clearly makes the case that lying results in bad things occurring to the tellers of falsehoods. Because the “Boy Who Cried Wolf” is not tied to any one faith, it is accessible to members of various cultures and religions. The fable has had significant influence, so much so that the phrase “to cry wolf” has become synonymous with lying.