Professor Aldert Vrij
Biography
I was awarded my PhD in 1991 at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and came to the UK in 1994, when I joined the Psychology Department as a Senior Lecturer. In 1996 I was promoted to Reader and in 2000 to my current position: Professor of Applied Social Psychology.
Research interests
My main research interest is deception, resulting in more than 600 publications and more than 30,000 citations. I received grants from British Research Councils, Trusts and Foundations, Insurers, Federal Bureau of Investigation and American, British, Dutch, and Singapore Governments, totalling > $11,500,000.
I work closely with practitioners (police, security services and insurers) in terms of conducting research and disseminating its findings. My book Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities (published by Wiley) is a comprehensive overview of research into (non)verbal and physiological deception and lie detection.
In 2016 I received the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iiiRG) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of my significant contribution to investigative interviewing.
Research outputs
2025
License to spill: the influence of moral licensing survey primes on deviant behavior reporting
Whitman, K. M., Cox, J., Murad, Z., Vrij, A.
4 Dec 2025, In: Deviant Behavior
Research output: Article
Identificazione verbale della menzogna nelle interviste investigative
Vrij, A., Giorgianni, D.
11 Nov 2025, In: Giornale Italiano di Psicologia
Research output: Article
The segmented interview: partitioning the initial free recall topics into segments to enhance information gathering and lie detection
Deeb, H., Vrij, A., Severino, M., Leal, S.
1 Sep 2025, In: Behavioral Sciences. 15, 9, 20p., 1163
Research output: Article
The effect of the interviewer’s cognitive load on the quality of the forensic interview
Giorgianni, D., Vrij, A., Leal, S., Deeb, H.
1 Jul 2025, In: The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context. 17, 2, p. 101-110
Research output: Article
Impacts of physical and testimonial evidence on South Korean police interrogator’s selection of tactics
Jang, M., Luke, T. J., Granhag, P. A., Vrij, A., Woohyun, L.
6 Jan 2025, In: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
Research output: Article
“Tell me about your trip”: Introducing the Enhanced Ghostwriter Lie Detection Tool
Burkhardt, J., Vrij, A., Leal, S., Deeb, H., Vernham, Z.
1 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. 14, 1, p. 74–84
Research output: Article
Omission lies: the effect of omitting little or much information on verbal veracity cues
Vrij, A., Leal, S., Deeb, H., Fisher, R. P.
1 Jan 2025, In: The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context. 17, 1, p. 25-37
Research output: Article
2024
In my opinion you are wrong! Adding a Model Statement to the Devil’s Advocate Approach to detect true and false opinions
Leal, S., Vrij, A., Deeb, H., Fisher, R. P.
2 Dec 2024, In: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
Research output: Article
Lie detection through observing nonverbal behaviour: its present state and future
Vrij, A., Fisher, R. R. P.
24 Nov 2024,
Research output: Chapter (peer-reviewed)
Honesty repeats itself: comparing manual and automated coding on the veracity cues total details and redundancy
Deeb, H., Vrij, A., Palena, N., Hypšová, P., Dib, G., Leal, S., Mann, S.
21 Oct 2024, In: Applied Psycholinguistics. 45, 5, p. 934-962, 29p.
Research output: Article