Psychology in the News: Why Do We Lie?

Have you ever told a little white lie (told to be polite or spare others' feelings), a grey lie (told to cover up our own mistakes), a purple lie (told to be modest or low-key) or even a red lie (told for spite and revenge)?We can give them different colours but at the end of the day a lie is a lie, and it is a way of deceiving someone.

So why do we do it?

Telling lies begins after children have learnt how to put words together in a sentence, at around the age of two and a half years old. To be able to lie, children need two essential skills. Firstly, they need to understand that different people have different knowledge about the world. Secondly, they need to inhibit what they know to be the truth and come up with an alternative truth. Lying is a healthy part of child development because all humans need to develop these skills to function in society.

Scientific research suggests that by the age of 4, around 80% of children will lie to cover up wrongdoings. By the age of 7, this figure rises to almost 100%. Lying decreases as children reach adolescence when their moral development and reasoning become more sophisticated. However, this doesn’t mean that lying stops at this point!

Research suggests that almost everyone lies, with most of us telling 2-3 lies per day and one study indicates that lying increases when we meet someone new for the first time, with people telling 2-3 lies in the first ten minutes of being introduced. Psychologists believe that this is because lying is an essential part of our everyday existence.

Evolutionary Psychology suggests the ‘Machiavellian theory of intelligence’ gives us an explanation for lying. Early humans lived in large social groups where being able to detect deception by others and be good at deception yourself was essential for survival. To be successful, early humans needed to be able to form coalitions with others, get food and reproduce. In social groups, therefore, deception can be used to flatter, gain the trust of allies or even make ourselves more attractive to potential mates. Humans who are more successful at lying are more likely to be able to form cooperative relationships and therefore pass on their ‘lying genes’ to the next generation!

Evidence from the animal kingdom illustrates that lying is not limited to humans. For example, researchers have observed young apes being caught for something they shouldn’t have been doing, such as stealing some food. Upon being noticed, the ape might run to the ridge of a hill and call out a warning cry which suggests enemies may be approaching. In response, the adult apes rush to the hill and discover that there is no impending attack and then they forget why they ran up there in the first place, the young ape has created a diversion for their lie.

The most recent psychological research into lying has studied the response of the brain when we tell a lie. Evidence using fMRI scans shows activity in the frontal lobe (responsible for problem-solving) when we are suppressing the truth and inventing something new. Furthermore, the amygdala (emotion centre) also becomes active, this is thought to be because lying makes us feel bad. To study this brain activity, researchers create situations where people tend to lie, for example, if allowed to gain more money at the expense of another person, almost everyone lies. However, interestingly, the more people lie the less active their amygdala is, suggesting the more they lie the less they care about lying!

Lying therefore seems to be a complex skill that we need to master to benefit ourselves in society. Lying appears to play just as big a role in human lives today as it did in the past. So, next time you tell your teacher that you forgot your homework or reassure your friend that you’re on your way when you haven’t even set off yet, spare a thought for your ancestors who refined the art of deception for your benefit!

Answer the following questions

1. Lying appears to be a universal behaviour, across all cultures, however in China, purple lies are more common. Use what you know about culture to explain why this might be.

2. fMRI scans are used to study brain activity when people tell a lie, how does an fMRI scan
work?

3. What practical applications might there be of increased brain activity in the frontal lobe and
amygdala when someone tells a lie?

4. Are there any concerns regarding these practical applications?

5. Why could any research conducted into lying be considered as socially sensitive?

6. How could researchers deal with this socially sensitive research?

Reference

BBC World Service Crowd Science Why do we lie? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programm...(accessed 12.12.23)