The workplace poses unique challenges for liars, especially for deception between
supervisors and subordinates. To that end, the current study examined deception in the workplace
between supervisors and subordinates to explore perceptions of deception and the relationship
between power and deception. Participants were recruited from organizations and universities and
reported their perceptions of power in their manager-subordinate relationships, perceptions of
deception, and perceptions of the risk involved with a recent lie they told to a supervisor or
subordinate. Results indicated that the perceived power difference between supervisors and
subordinates was substantial, power impacted perceptions of deception in the workplace and how
deceptive messages were crafted, and very few of the reported lies were detected. Theoretical
implications of the findings are discussed
