A note on cognitive dissonance and malingering.

This paper proposes that malingered symptoms may become internalized due to the self-deceptive power of cognitive dissonance. Studies demonstrating how other-deception may turn into self-deception are briefly discussed, as are clinical notions about the overlap between malingering and medically unexplained symptoms. In our view this literature showcases the relevance of cognitive dissonance for research on malingering.

[When the suspect hears voices: feigned imperative hallucinations].

Background: On occasion a suspect will feign psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations in order to trivialize their criminal responsibility. If doctors exercise only their clinical judgement, however, every now and then they will fail to identify a malingerer.

Case Description: A 38-year-old male was remanded in custody.

The residual effect of feigning: how intentional faking may evolve into a less conscious form of symptom reporting.

We conducted three studies that address the residual effects of instructed feigning of symptoms. In Experiment 1 (N = 31), undergraduates instructed to exaggerate symptoms on a malingering test continued to report more neurocognitive and psychiatric symptoms than did nonmalingering controls, when later asked to respond honestly to the same test. In Experiment 2 (N = 28), students completed a symptom list of psychiatric complaints and then were asked to explain why they had endorsed two target symptoms that they did not, in actuality, endorse.