Bluffing Is Also Effective When Trying Get At The Truth
Unfortunately, one of the best ways to get at the truth is to pretend to know it—the bluff.
People do not like getting caught in a lie, so if they are convinced that you already know what has happened—they are much more likely to tell you (as long as they haven’t lied about the topic already. Again, once people lie they tend to stick with their story).
Saying things like...
- I know what is going on....
- I know what happened...
- Someone told me...
- Let’s talk about it...
...can be very effective at getting partners to talk.
However, bluffing is a very HIGH RISK strategy. It can backfire and cause serious damage to your relationship. If your spouse has not done anything or does not believe you—he or she calls your bluff—now you have been caught in a lie.
It may be best to use this strategy only as a last resort—when you feel that your relationship is coming to an end and you just want to know the truth.
And this strategy rarely works with serious issues such as infidelity. People often lie about infidelity, even when confronted with evidence to the contrary (see cheater’s paradox).
