Why Do People Lie
Why do people lie? None of us could honestly say we've never lied. Many people lie when they fear what might happen if they were truthful. There are many reasons why people lie. Some are complex, but some are fairly simple.
There has been research conducted that has found that many of us have lied in roughly one-quarter of our dealings with people. Usually we do this to keep from being humiliated, or to keep someone else from being humiliated. As an example, if a friend asks you if you like her dress, you will probably tell her you do, just to make her feel better, even if you don't like it.
Why do people lie? Children learn to lie when they are young, for different reasons. The main reason is to avoid punishment. They may also lie to get control in a situation, or to show off for their friends.
Some theories state that the answer to the question “Why do people lie?” is that children actually learn to lie from their parents. And research has found that smarter children learn to lie earlier in life than those who aren't as academically gifted. Some experts even feel that lying is actually linked to intelligence.
These experts point out that, for all we would like to think of truthfulness as what children should work for, that lying is actually a skill that is more advanced. Any child who lies has to first recognize the truth, figure out a different outcome, and convince adults that they are right. Lying actually demands more from the child in the areas of social skills and cognitive development than is required if the child is honest.
If children who lie to get out of punishment succeed in escaping it, then they will probably begin to lie more often. Parents often hear children tell blatant lies, even when the parent was in the room and witnessed what actually happened. Experts say that once a child has lied successfully, he learns to use that knowledge to his advantage, which makes him more liable to lie whenever he has the chance. But although this information is interesting, it doesn't answer the question, “Why do people lie?”
Children growing into their teenage years do not outgrow the habit of lying. A recent study discovered that in a test of thirty-six topics, teens were lying to their parents about twelve of them. The subjects of their lies were diverse: alcohol and drug use, parties they had been to, movies they saw, and who they were dating, to name a few.
If you want a simple answer to the question “Why do people lie?” it would be that generally it is done to get out of punishment, or away from the anger of someone else. Whatever all the causes may be, this seems to be a question we will be asking for as long as humankind lives.