I had the "intimidation" kind of polygraph session when I was questioned by a couple of police detectives about a theft in a building where I was a security guard. Intimidation and threats. Like if you don't answer right we're headed to your place to search everything. They did not review the questions in advance; they did try to surprise me; there was no attempt at calibration. The lie detector seemed to be a prop. After the test one of them came to me and said "you passed" while looking at me closely like my reaction was just the last test. I laughed. I guess it was the right answer.
> when I was tested by a couple of police detectives about a theft in a building where I was a security guard.
Why did you agree to take the polygraph?
> Like if you don't answer right we're headed to your place to search everything.
If in the US they can't do that (w/o a court order which they would not get solely based on the way you are describing the situation).
> I guess it was the right answer.
The right answer would have been to not take the polygraph test at all and not to talk to them.
> Why did you agree to take the polygraph?
I wanted to keep my job. I didn't want the cops to find my weed (campus housing) and maybe get kicked out of college. Nobody had threatened to fire me and I may well have made the wrong decision. But I was very easy to replace and the condominium was full of paranoid rich people with lots of time on their hands.
Granted, I did not participate in any polygraph sessions used for the purposes of information gathering; more to confirm information already in the open.