Othello error

English

Etymology

From Shakespeare's play Othello, in which the title character misinterprets his wife's distress as proof of her infidelity.

Noun

Othello error (plural Othello errors)

1. An erroneous conclusion that someone is lying based on signs of stress.
   • 1995, Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, National Academy of Arbitrators, →ISBN:

     Out of such turmoil, it must be expected that some significant percent of Othello errors (false positives) will subsequently be improperly scored as hits when innocent subjects "confess" in return for a reduced charge.

   • 2011, Klaus Fiedler, Social Communication, →ISBN, page 327:

     The relatively low accuracy rates for detecting truths in CQT polygraph research (discussed before) is perhaps the result of the Othello error (Ofshe & Leo, 1997).

   • 2013, Kelly D. Harrison, Forensic Interviewing: For Law Enforcement, →ISBN, page 75:

     Ekman said the Othello error stems from a truthful person being afraid of not being believed.

   • 2014, Timothy R. Levine, Encyclopedia of Deception, →ISBN, page 740:

     The Othello error is a common occurrence in traditional lie detection, which departs from the stress-based approach to lying.