Like much of the UK I’ve been gripped by Celebratory Traitors, not just because of the wonderful Claudia Winkleman’s outfits and fringe, there is just something so fascinating about watching a group of people who, whether they are traitors or not, become totally self-conscious about how they are being perceived by others whilst also trying to work out who they can trust.

I’m sure I’m not the only psychologist writing an article this month who is pulling parallels between The Traitors series and the workplace, and in particular, our deeply human and complicated relationship with trust.

We might like to think we’d be sharp enough to spot deception, but research suggests otherwise. Watching the show can be an uncomfortable mirror, revealing how bias, likability, and misplaced confidence shape the way we judge others at work.

Here are three leadership lessons we can take from Celebrity Traitors and the psychology that backs them up.

We’re not as good at spotting liars as we think

Most of us believe we can sense dishonesty, a shifty glance, a nervous fidget, a pause too long, but decades of research show that humans are surprisingly poor at detecting lies. A meta-analysis by Bond and DePaulo (2006) found that, on average, people identify deception correctly only about 54% of the time, barely better than flipping a coin.

Part of the reason is something called the ‘truth bias’ which is our tendency to assume people are honest. Society runs on trust; if we doubted everyone, relationships and teamwork would collapse. But that same bias blinds us to deceit.  My daughter and I have watched every international Traitor series (I know…) and interestingly, in many other series it is often the traitors turning on themselves (with one traitor trying to prove they are a faithful) that ends up with a traitor being seemly ‘caught’ by the faithful.

For leaders, this matters. We often rely on gut feel when assessing integrity or hiring for ‘fit.’ Yet intuition is shaped by unconscious bias more than by accuracy. The better question isn’t ‘Can I spot a liar?’ but ‘Have I created an environment where people feel psychologically safe?’.

The likability trap: when warmth feels like honesty

In The Traitors, the most charming contestants often last the longest. They’re the ones who make others laugh, listen intently, and seem ‘trustworthy.’ There had to be something keeping Alan in when his face seems to give everything away!

Social psychologists Susan Fiske, Amy Cuddy, and Peter Glick (2007) found that our judgments of others hinge on two traits: warmth and competence. We instinctively trust those who seem kind and approachable, even if there’s little evidence to support it.  Casciaro and Lobo (2005) explored this in workplace settings, discovering that people would rather work with a ‘lovable fool’ than a ‘competent jerk.’ In leadership terms, we often confuse charisma for character, and friendliness for reliability. 

As a leader, it’s worth asking: who gets the benefit of the doubt on my team? Whose mistakes do I forgive more easily because I like them? The ‘halo effect’ (Thorndike, 1920) can make us overestimate someone’s honesty or skill based on one positive impression.  I feel like we watched this happen with Celia Imrie being ‘dazzled’ by Jonathan even though she held onto a niggle that he was a traitor. 

Being aware of this bias doesn’t make us cynical, it makes us fairer.

Trust is built by behaviour, not by detection

In The Traitors, once trust is broken, alliances crumble fast. The same is true in real teams, except the fallout is quieter. People stop speaking up, innovation stalls, and the energy drains away.  Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson (1999, 2018) calls this Psychological Safety, the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for being honest. It’s not about catching out liars, it’s about creating conditions where truth-telling feels safe.  Simons (2002) adds another layer with the idea of behavioral integrity when leaders.  Employees don’t judge leaders by slogans or values posters; they judge them by whether actions match words.

Trust, then, isn’t a game of detection, it’s a practice of consistency.

In summary

The Traitors works because it plays with our desire to trust, to belong, to see the good in others. Leadership works when we understand those same instincts in ourselves.

So next time you find yourself thinking, “I’d spot a Traitor in my team,” pause and ask:

• Am I rewarding honesty or performance polish?
• Do my people feel safe to tell me the truth?
• Am I aware of how my own biases shape who I trust

Because in the real world, the goal isn’t to expose the liar, it’s to build a culture where no one needs to pretend and no-one is wasting any energy trying not to be ‘caught out’ as being something that they’re not.