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Daily Life, Lying in

Researchers studying lying in everyday life have surveyed participants, often on a daily basis, to ascertain key details about lying, including the frequency with which people lie, the type and function of lies, individual differences in lying, and the emotional consequences of lying. Researchers have concluded that lying is incredibly common, serves personal and social functions, varies considerably across individuals, and may trigger acute distress. Although there are methodological limitations in this area of research, these studies provide useful insights into lying on an everyday basis.

Form, Function, Personality, and Emotions

Lying to others is not entirely unusual. A review of empirical literature assessing daily lying frequency reveals that human beings admit to telling lies in, on average, 20 percent of social interactions. On a typical day, people lie an average of approximately one time, but some lie as many as five times, and about 10 percent avoid lying altogether. The type, function, and perceived magnitude of these lies vary across individuals and contexts. To better understand this variability, researchers have created taxonomies of everyday lies, drawing from human participants' reports of their routine lying experiences—an assessment technique often referred to as the daily diary technique.

Types of routine lies that have been identified using this technique include active lies, passive lies, and exaggerations. Active lies are characterized by an outright attempt to conceal or contradict the truth by presenting false facts. For example, a college student going to a party may claim to his parents that he will be studying all night with his peers. Also, a cheating partner or criminal suspect may lie about their whereabouts. Passive lies involve deliberately omitting or evading information with the objective of creating a false sense of reality. For example, a real estate agent may fail to notify a potential home buyer about a leaky roof with the aim of fashioning a positive impression of the property. Similarly, in a relationship, one partner may avoid mentioning a stressful aspect of their day in order to avoid triggering unnecessary distress for their partner. Finally, exaggerations are marked by an overstatement of the truth, in contrast to blatant fabrication. For example, a tropical vacationer may boast a temperature that is 10 degrees warmer to a distant hometown friend. Similarly, an individual may play up personal accomplishments during a job interview or first date.

Motives for Lying

Not all lies have the same function; motives for telling lies are variable. Lies may be self-focused, other-focused, or altruistic (some deception researchers use the latter terms interchangeably, though a distinction is made here). Self-focused lies are generally told to save face (that is, impression manage), or to avoid judgment or admission of personal weaknesses and failures (e.g., a university student tells his peers that he earned high marks on his failed biology exam). People may also tell self-oriented lies to avoid discussing sensitive emotional information, evade responsibility or commitment, or even to avoid verbal or physical confrontation (e.g., a tenant tells his landlord to expect a rent payment tomorrow, despite a depleted bank account).

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