The Phenomenology of Lying in Young Adults and Relationships with Personality and Cognition

Abstract

Despite research suggesting that lying may be a normal aspect of development and a fairly frequent occurrence in many adults, surprisingly little is known about its phenomenology and possible associations with relevant personality traits and cognitive functions. University students were invited to participate in an online study, which included a 91-item questionnaire and four neurocognitive tasks (selected to focus on frontal lobe function). The survey included questions about frequency of lying and reasons for doing so, mental health history, personality traits, religiosity, and insight into lying. Those who lied daily (“Daily Liars”) were compared to those who lied less frequently (“Non-Daily Liars”). 18.1% of the sample reported lying every day. Daily Liars showed worse grade point averages, quality of life, and self-esteem. Daily Lying was associated with negative functional impact on school, social, and family/home domains. We did not find evidence that is was associated with frontal lobe dysfunction on the cognitive tasks examined.

The Acceptability of Lying and Its Relationship with Other Personality Constructs among a Sample of Adults

“…Lying, its acceptability, the idea of self-esteem, a person's religiosity, and resultant dysfunction (Sheehan Disability Scale) is complex and there should be more research into the interplay of these variables. For instance, in a world where there are daily news stories about politicians and business people lying about something [2], research could provide more detailed insight into this phenomenon rather than only seeking to identify if a person is lying. There is also complexity and a lack of understanding about how the brain processes truth and veracity.…”

“…Lying is seemingly a common behavior among people of all ages [1,2]. Although research has attempted to understand why people lie [2][3][4][5], the reasons proffered by people for lying are diverse.…”

“…Lying is seemingly a common behavior among people of all ages [1,2]. Although research has attempted to understand why people lie [2][3][4][5], the reasons proffered by people for lying are diverse. Some lie to improve their self-image to others, to escape negative repercussions, or to manipulate and control various situations.…”

“…confirmed that the strongest associations were across three of the six psychometric tests (SDS, LAS, MACH-IV). Distinctions between these tests and their internal consistency were corroborated by increasing Cronbach's Alpha values when the DUREL and then the DUREL, IAT, and RSE were omitted from a reliability analysis ([1] SDS, LAS, MACH-IV, IAT, RSE, DUREL; Cronbach's Alpha value = 0.134;[2] SDS, LAS, MACH-IV, IAT, RSE; Cronbach's Alpha value = 0.514;[3] SDS, LAS, MACH-IV;…”

Predictors of Individual Differences in Lie Acceptability in Adolescence: Exploring the Influence of Social Desirability, Callous Unemotional Traits and Somatization

“…During everyday interactions, lying is a commonly occurring behavior (DePaulo, Kashy, Kirkenol, Wyer & Epstein, 1996) which can be perceived as inappropriate, undesirable and potentially generating social conflicts. Researchers have reported that most people lie on average one to two times a day (DePaulo et al, 1996;Vrij, 2008), and those who reported daily lying were more likely to report a lower quality of life, lower school performance (lower GPAs), and poorer self-esteem (Grant, Paglia & Chamberlain, 2019). However, studies have also shown that most people are honest most of the time and that the majority of lies within studied samples are told by a few prolific liars (Debey, Schryver, Logan, Suchotzki, & Verschuere, 2015;Serota & Levine, 2015).…”