Why Do People Lie?

60% of adults can’t have a ten-minute conversation without lying at least once. I bet you’re thinking that you’re definitely part of the 40% that can right … well so did the group of liars.Lying is apart of our lives from a pretty early age. By the age of four, 90% of children are capable of lying and at 12 the rate of lying reaches its peak. Lying is a fairly normal and quite common part of everyday life for most people. For most it comprises of small harmless white lies; however many people also often lie about their feelings, income, accomplishments, sex life and even their age.It is estimated that 40% of people lie on their resumes, an even more overwhelming statistic suggests that up to 90% of people lie on their online dating profile. However some people can take it to extremes. Lying when there is really no need, exaggerating the truth just a little too often, making up completely false stories from scratch … so why do people do it?There are many reasons why people may feel a need to constantly lie, however it is most commonly used as a defence mechanism. Feelings of shame, worthlessness, failure or rejection are masked by elaborate stories and fabrications, which cast them in a positive or favourable light. Others may make up or exaggerate stories in which they were victimised to elicit sympathy and care from others. Some research has even suggested that childhood trauma and neglect from parents earlier on in life may be a predetermining factor in compulsive lying.In general however it seems that compulsive lying seems to arise when the gap between ones reality and their ideal romanticised life becomes too great to bear. Instead of making proactive and positive changes in ones life to bring them closer to their goals, they often choose instead to take comfort in their lies and their perceived ideal self that arises from these confabulations.The need to keep up with their extravagant lies often arises from feelings of sadness and low self-esteem for most. In this way, they are able to protect their true-selves from ever being discovered and remain admired and liked by others for their perceived heroic, altruistic or likeable self.It is also worth noting that compulsive lying is not a disorder listed in the DSM-5, therefore it does not have specific diagnostic criteria. It is however a symptom of a range of other disorders which are listed in the DSM-5 including antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, factitious disorder and confabulation. It is therefore important that these are ruled out before classing someone purely as a compulsive liar.So long story short … don’t trust anyone right? Not necessarily! One study had participants fill out a survey to determine how trusting they were e.g. ‘most people are basically honest’, ‘most people are good natured’ etc. They were instructed to watch taped job interviews – some were completely truthful and some interviewees told lies. They were then asked to rate the truthfulness of each interviewee. Interestingly enough people who scored high in trust were more accurate at detecting the liars when compared to those who showed less trust in others.So with lying being so common in todays society, do you know anyone who compulsively tells lies? Or are you that person yourself? Don't lie!