Being 'put on the spot' by a face-to-face question might NOT be the best way to get a truthful answer.

People tend to tell the truth more when asked questions via text message - because they have more time to think.

It also includes sensitive information that the person might not normally reveal - such as exactly how much they drink, or how much (or little) they exercise.

While the police are unlikely to switch to interviewing suspects via iPhone, it's a good way to elicit precise, true answers from friends.

‘The preliminary results of our study suggest that people are more likely to disclose sensitive information via text messages than in voice interviews,’ says Fred Conrad, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Michigan.

‘This is sort of surprising,’ says Conrad, ‘since many people thought that texting would decrease the likelihood of disclosing sensitive information because it creates a persistent, visual record of questions and answers that others might see on your phone.’

When texting, people are less likely to 'round' figures up or down, and more likely to give precise answers.

‘We believe people give more precise answers via texting because there's just not the time pressure in a largely asynchronous mode like text that there is in phone interviews,’ says Conrad.

‘As a result, respondents are able to take longer to arrive at more accurate answers.’

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)