زبان پژوهی

Some verbal cues to deception in near-death experiences

زبان پژوهی August 17, 2025 Shima Solati, Ali Izanloo, Azam Estaji

People who lie about having a near-death experience (NDE) use hedges, negative statements, and negative emotion expressions more often than people who actually report an NDE. In a comparison of 50 fabricated NDE stories with 50 genuine NDE interviews, liars produced 63.9% of all hedges (vs. 26.1% for NDErs), 53.1% of negative statements (vs. 46.9%), and 54.9% of negative emotion expressions (vs. 45.1%). The findings suggest that verbal cues linked to deception—hedges, negativity, and negative emotions—are more frequent in liars' accounts, consistent with prior research on deceptive language.