History The phrase Othello error was first used in the book Telling Lies by Paul Ekman in 1985. In Lewis, M. & Saarni, C. (Eds.), Lying and deception in everyday life (pp. 184-200). New York: Guilford Press. The name was coined from Shakespeare's play Othello, which provides an "excellent and famous example" of what can happen when fear and distress upon confrontation do not signal deception. In Shakespeare's Othello , Othello falsely believes that his wife, Desdemona, has been cheating on him with another man. There, upon confronting his wife, Desdemona, about her love for another, she cries and denies  , all the while aware that her mien will be taken as evidence of guilt by her jealous husband. Seeing his wife's emotional distress, Othello ignores alternative, innocent explanations—like the possibility that she did not love another—and kills her, as his preconceptions biased his observation and, therefore, his judgments.
History The phrase Othello error was first used in the book Telling Lies by Paul Ekman in 1985. In Lewis, M. & Saarni, C. (Eds.), Lying and deception in everyday life (pp. 184-200). New York: Guilford Press. The name was coined from Shakespeare's play Othello, which provides an "excellent and famous example" of what can happen when fear and distress upon confrontation do not signal deception. In the play , Othello falsely believes that his wife, Desdemona, has been cheating on him with another man. When confronted, she cries and denies it , all the while aware that her mien will be taken as evidence of guilt by her jealous husband. Seeing his wife's emotional distress, Othello ignores alternative, innocent explanations—like the possibility that she did not love another—and kills her, as his preconceptions biased his observation and, therefore, his judgments.
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Shakespeare's Othello
the play
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There, upon confronting his wife, Desdemona, about her love for another,
When confronted,
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