People Purposely Tell Lies To Appear More Honest, Claims Study

‘Fake it till you make it.’ How often have you used this mantra to get out of tricky situations in life? Well, I am sure many of us are guilty of telling white lies quite often than we choose to admit. And believe it or not, people frequently lie in order to maintain their good reputation in front of others.

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According to a team of scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Chicago and the University of California, Los Angeles, people apparently lie to their own disadvantage if they feel telling the truth will make them seem dishonest, reports CNN.

Wait, what? Confused as to why people lie when it does them no good? Let us explain.

In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, researchers conducted an experiment to prove their point. They studied the patterns of 100 working adults in the US. The scenario being –  You drive frequently for work and get compensated for up to 400 miles per month and you know that your colleagues usually drive 280 to 320 miles every month. And this month you drove exactly 400 miles.

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The researchers asked the respondents how much distance would they claim in their expense report. As per the results, 12% of the people lied about the distance they drove, giving an average answer of 384 miles when in reality, they drove 400 miles.

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Some people lied about the distance even though they’d lose their own money that could have been easily compensated. As per the researchers, they did this to come across as honest, with an assumption that others would get suspicious of their high expense claims.

“Many people care greatly about their reputation and how they will be judged by others. People are so concerned they seem dishonest that they would behave dishonestly to keep their reputation clean,” a senior lecturer was quoted explaining.

“Our findings suggest that when people obtain extremely favorable outcomes, they anticipate other people’s suspicious reactions and prefer lying and appearing honest over telling the truth.”

The researchers tested multiple scenarios, including lawyers claiming their salary for working hours and students self-reporting their wins during gambling in exchange for money, and in almost every case, the outcomes were similar as people lied to show they are a better person.
Now, why would anyone behave like this? According to the lecturer, this happened because people judge others negatively when they report extreme or drastically different outcomes.

“One of the main motivations for lying is to increase our worth in the eyes of others. As people view honesty [as] a desirable feature, people will lie to seem successful, loving, hard-working, etc.”

As per the lecturer, people usually lie for selfish gains or to protect the feelings of others. For eg. telling a friend, they look good even when they don’t.
Now, the study shows there is a third type of lying which is lying to maintain a good reputation. The researchers believe this mentality might affect multiple behaviors in everyday life. Have you ever lied to come across as a better person?
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