As elections approach, voters are assessing the performance of their elected representatives. I have observed and written about corruption in office for two decades. The following psychology research tips can help voters test the credibility of their public servants.

Most people are not inveterate liars. Michigan State University communication researcher Kim Serota and his colleagues, in a study of 1,000 participants, find that of those who admit they lie, half of the lies come from just 5.3% of participants. Since lying tends to be rare, except for a small group of frequent liars, it makes sense to start with the premise that people are telling the truth until, as attorneys say, you observe a "pattern and practice" of lying. Or, as President Reagan said, “Trust but Verify.”

The experts agree that no one trait definitively reveals a liar. Listen, watch, and read carefully. Often it takes knowledge of the material and observation over time before patterns become evident.

Singer, poet, author, and activist Maya Angelou is famous for saying, "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” I have observed that liars often inadvertently tell you who they are or what they are doing. For instance, an attorney joked during an annual general meeting that disclosed high legal expenses, “Of course, I encourage the association to engage in expensive litigation because then I make more money.”

Liars may use phrases or words that betray what they are doing. Recently, a government clerk rejected a document because it contained uppercase rather than........

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