| Although serious deception does not occur frequently; when it does, it can have a profound impact on the individual who was deceived. However, in the literature on deception, the perspective of the deceived person has been taken in only a few studies. This dissertation explored how the deceived person manages the meaning of a recent deception. Eleven persons who recently discovered that they had been deceived were interviewed with open-ended questions asking them to describe various aspects of their experience. Data was coded into categories and a qualitative narrative analysis was conducted to understand the underlying themes in the participant transcripts. The "hierarchy of actors' meanings" and LUUUTT models, both taken from the theory of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM), were used to display the way the subjects managed the meaning of having been seriously deceived. The results of this study indicate the discovery of serious deception is a set of complex and interconnecting experiences where deceived persons transition through a stage-like process in trying to manage the meaning of their deception. |
