[anonymousiam]

Been there, done that. It's a good account, but I'm pretty surprised that the author felt that he could get away with "butt clinching", which is a form of deception, even when you're using it because you know the polygraph process is flawed. So he had to have lied to the investigator about whether or not he was being deceptive, and he never should have been cleared in the first place.

My last few polygraphs (I've had well over a dozen of them) were abusive. Before one of the later tests, the investigator tried to establish rapport, and told me that he had interrogated terrorists in the middle east, who had threatened to kill him. Before the test, I sympathized with him on this and thought that those terrorists must have been really bad people. After the test, I completely understood why those subjects had threatened to kill him.

The polygraph is basically a mind fuck. They try to guilt you into admitting some wrong that you've done by pretending that they already know about it. People with a conscience will break down and admit something, but different personality types react differently.

A senior security officer that I knew always passed his polygraphs on the first sitting, and never had any trouble. The reason was because he was a pathological liar. One of the requirements for his job was to come up with "cover stories", which are lies that you must convincingly tell others, to protect the security of a program.

Two co-worker engineers I know failed, because they refused to go back for more abuse. They were not bad or deceptive people -- They were "Type A" personalities, and it was just too stressful for them.

Refusing to take (or re-take) a polygraph is a red flag, and gets a lot of high level attention. The government will assume that you are refusing because you've done something wrong, and may go after you, and could ruin you life, even if you are innocent.

[DANmode]

> it was just too stressful for them.

Are you sure that’s the right word?

Maybe…too disrespectful? (Abusive, in your words.)

[anonymousiam]

Even if the polygraph examiner is not abusive, the whole process is stressful, especially to "Type A" people. It's designed to be stressful. You are under constant surveillance, and they make sure that you know this. They make you wait for a long time before beginning. They keep the rooms cold, so you aren't comfortable. They don't let you wear a jacket, because "it could interfere with the equipment." The chair is uncomfortable, and the sensors (especially the blood pressure cuff) are deliberately too tight. My arm would often turn purple.

You are obligated to keep coming back until they say you're finished. More often than not, they will not tell you that you "passed" the exam.

I always had issues with their "baseline" question where they tell you to give an incorrect answer. They've told you to lie, and they know that you're lying. I have no stress at all in that situation because everybody has agreed and knows that I'm expected to lie. For some dumb reason, they are looking for some sort of physiological response from me that indicates deception. Maybe some people will react subconsciously, but I don't.