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Knapp, Mark

Mark L. Knapp, an internationally known scholar, is the Jesse H. Jones Centennial Professor Emeritus in Communication and Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Knapp earned his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. His research has significantly contributed to the areas of interpersonal and human communication, investigating subjects such as deception through nonverbal communication and relationship development.

As a professor emeritus, Knapp continues to teach courses on lying and deception and nonverbal communication along with his other activities in research, writing, and consulting. To date, Knapp has published over 10 textbooks in the field of communication and countless journal articles, and he has consulted, taught, and lectured to over 60 business organizations, government agencies, volunteer groups, and educational institutions. He has received numerous awards for teaching excellence and for distinguished scholarship in the communication discipline.

Distinguishing Liars from Truth-Tellers

Knapp's research provides crucial insight into several questions surrounding the nature of the act of lying. Layman and researchers alike have sought to identify behaviors that distinguish liars from truth-tellers. According to Knapp and his colleagues, it is difficult to pinpoint precise behaviors of those who are lying; it is easier to identify key emotional and cognitive processes that a liar experiences. The two processes that occur during lying are referred to as “arousal” and “cognitive difficulty.”

Nonverbal arousals include the following behaviors: speech errors, a higher pitch in the voice, blinking, and pupil dilation. Verbal arousals from liars include extreme uses of language, defensive retorts, and ill-humored answers. Although liars and truth-tellers may both experience arousal, there is a difference in regard to the second process—cognitive difficulty. Liars have a tendency to experience more hesitancy in their responses, a lack of specific references, and incompatible verbal and nonverbal behaviors.

In his research Knapp discusses two other phenomena that are characteristically associated with those who engage in lying: attempted control and display of an affective state. Attempted control is defined as a rehearsed behavior, indirect responses to direct questions, and a lack of spontaneity when questioned. Affective states typically connected to lying are anxiety, fidgeting, speech stammering, and anger. Anger is one of the most common emotional states related to deception. Liars tend to provide negative and disaffiliative responses; however, there are liars who do express guilt by looking away for an extended period of time and/or placing their hands over their eyes. For those who find pleasure in lying, inappropriate smiles or smirks of contempt may occur at times during questioning.

Knapp's Staircase

One cannot discuss Knapp without also mentioning his famous and widely studied model, often referred to as Knapp's Staircase. He developed a model of relationship development and deterioration, providing a detailed understanding of the complexity of relationships. The five stages in the process of relationship development from the escalation model: initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding.

Knapp's model is one that can be used to describe several types of relationships, such as romantic couples, friendships, roommates, coworkers, and family dyads. Not all relationships reach each stage, and stages do not occur in consecutive order; relationships may repeatedly go back and forth between stages.

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