Why do we lie?

Question

In general.

Answer 1

Usually it's pride that keeps us from telling the truth. We don't want to A) admit we are wrong; B) look bad in front of others; C) we want to look better than others....
Oh heck this list could go on and on. We lie because we're human and sinful...plain and simple.

Answer 2

Everybody lies. It may only be “white” lies, but everyone tells lies or “omits the truth” sometimes.

We start lying at around age 4 to 5 when children gain an awareness of the use and power of language. This first lying is not malicious, but rather to find out, or test, what can manipulated in a child’s environment. Eventually children begin to use lying to get out of trouble or get something they want.

White lies, those concocted to protect someone’s feelings, are not a big deal at all. The person, however, who seems to feel compelled to lie about both the small and large stuff has a problem.

We often call these folks pathological liars (which is a description, not a diagnosis). They lie to protect themselves, look good, gain financially or socially and avoid punishment. Quite often the person who has been deceived knows that this type of liar has to a certain extent deluded him or herself and is therefore to be somewhat pitied.

A much more troubling group is those who lie a lot — and knowingly — for personal gain. These people may have a diagnosis called antisocial personality disorder, also known as being a sociopath, and often get into scrapes with the law.

Lying often gets worse with the passage of time. When you get away with a lie it often impels you to continue your deceptions. Also, liars often find themselves perpetrating more untruths to cover themselves.

We hold different people to different standards when it comes to telling the truth. We expect, for example, less honesty from politicians than from scientists. We have a vision of purity about those who are doing research, while we imagine that politicians will at least shade the truth about themselves in order to get elected.

Why do we dislike liars, especially sociopaths, so much? It’s a matter of trust. When a person lies, they have broken a bond – an unspoken agreement to treat others as we would like to be treated. Serious deception often makes it impossible for us to trust another person again.

Because the issue of trust is on the line, coming clean about the lie as soon as possible is the best way to mend fences. If the truth only comes out once it is forced, repair of trust is far less likely.

As a parent, the most important message you can send your children about lying is that you always — always — want them to come clean with you. No matter how big a whopper they have told, remind them that you would always rather hear the truth, no matter how bad it is, than be deceived. Tell them there is really nothing more sacred in your relationship than your trust of each other.

Of course, all this presupposes that we have discovered an untruth — some people are so expert at deception that it often takes a long time to find out that we have been lied to.

How, then, can we best detect whether we are being misled? There is no foolproof way, but there are often clues you can see in behavior that should make you suspicious:

Avoidance of eye contact: Usually someone makes eye contact at least half the time they are talking to you. If you notice them avoiding eye contact or looking down during a specific part of a conversation, they may well be lying.

Change of voice: A variation in pitch of voice or rate of speech can be a sign of lying. So can lots of umms and ahhs.

Body language. Turning your body away, covering your face or mouth, a lot of fidgeting of hands or legs can indicate deception.

Contradicting yourself:. Making statements that just don’t hold together should make you suspicious.

If you lie all the time, even about unimportant things, you are likely to have a problem that will eventually -- if it hasn’t already -- cause you real relationship, financial or legal troubles. Figuring out what is driving you to lie in the first place will help heal this self-destructive behavior. This may mean going into treatment with a therapist to discover why you feel the need to deceive.

Answer 3

1 - Because we're afraid of what people will think if they knew the truth.
2 - Because we don't want to hurt somebody's feelings.
3 - Because we want to mislead for personal gain.
4 - Because we don't like the truth
5 - Because we lied about something else and now we are lying to cover up the last lie which was to cover up the previous lie which was to cover up the lie before that which was to cover up the first lie which we can't remember why we lied in the first place because the truth wouldn't have mattered, but now that we lied we can't say it wasn't true because then it would be obvious that we lied and then nobody would trust us and so we just keep lying.

Answer 4

Why do we lie
it makes me cry
and give a big sigh
live and then die
me oh my
lets get high
big blue sky
poke you in the eye
are most women bi
roll the die
whats up..... sigh
i like apple pie
oh me oh my
why do we lie?

Answer 5

well. some may lie to cheat others, some may lie to pretend them, some may lie to hide themselves(in net), some may lie for good too, etc....,
Generally Its depends on people, suituation, and the purpose what for they lie.

Answer 6

Because if we go to sleep standing up, we fall down.

No, seriously, we lie for all kinds of reasons, including to avoid hurting someone's feelings, to avoid embarrassment, to make ourselves feel better, etc., etc., etc.

But I had to give it up - got caught too many times, in really stupid ways. It's just easier to keep my story straight if I tell the truth. ;-)

Answer 7

I lie to protect myself. There are things about me people are better off not knowing and they'd probably think badly of me if they did know.

Answer 8

because most of the time we're scared of the outcomes if we tell the truth. so a lie is our spur of the moment ticket out of trouble.

Answer 9

Inability to cope with reality and/or inability to cope with what others will think of some piece of reality.

People should accept reality.

Things just are the way they are. That's jus the way it is.

Answer 10

Sometimes we don't want others to know our business and can't think fast enough of another way to tell them