The Truth About the Lies We Tell: A Scientific View of Everyday Deception

We all know that children and adults sometimes lie—but when do they tend to lie, and to what extent? And how can we even study lies scientifically when people try so hard to hide them? In this article, we present research on lying from both the science lab and the real world. The main findings from psychology and economics show that many people are willing to lie to gain something, like money, but they usually settle for relatively small lies. We explain how people’s need to feel like good people in their own eyes and in the eyes of others limits the lies they tell. Finally, we explain how insights from this research can be used to lessen dishonest behavior in the world.