Sure, our intuitions can be spot-on. They can also be dead wrong. How do we determine which are valid and which not? We seek out external sources of information: we collect data, we do research. We put our heartfelt hunch to a test, if only informally. We get scientific.
For example, what would your intuition tell you about this query: What type of person is better at detecting deception – the individual with a more trusting personality or the individual with a less trusting personality?
I image most people would have the hunch that the less trusting person is better at such things as lie-detection. They’re less naive, more on the lookout for trickery, right?
Actually, the hunch may be wrong. Research published in the most recent edition of Social Psychological and Personality Science challenges the intuitive conclusion.
People high in trust were more accurate at detecting the liars—the more people showed trust in others, the more able they were to distinguish a lie from the truth. . . .
“Although people seem to believe that low trusters are better lie detectors and less gullible than high trusters, these results suggest that the reverse is true,” write co-authors Nancy Carter and Mark Weber of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. [emphasis added; source]
“These results suggest . . . ” Beautiful. Will the results hold up upon attempted replication of the study and verification of the finding? You might not want to leave it to your intuition to determine the answer.
I see intuition as a quickie guide to what might be the case. However, when we have the time and incentive to determine what really is the case — we should seek out more reliable sources of information.
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Tags: intuition, personality
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