The Psychology of Lying

Written by: Sarah Angelone

Edited by: Maggie Huang

In the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, deception enters the world through the serpent’s lie, setting the stage for a long human history of dishonesty and its consequences. Lying is a trait deeply ingrained in human behavior, remaining a primary concern for understanding human nature. Even from a young age, the idea that lying is morally incorrect is drilled into our minds through books, teachers, and parents. We learn of various philosophies surrounding the poor morals of lying, like Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative. Despite this early conditioning, every human continues to lie. Humans often lie as a biological instinct, to avoid danger, and to refrain from hurting others. 

Lying is a biological instinct. Deception is no stranger to the animal kingdom and is often used to trick predators, catch prey, avoid danger, or help oneself. Deception in the animal kingdom is categorized into three segments: camouflage, mimicry, and tactical deception. Animals often use these tools to benefit their survival in some way. For example, the fork-tailed drongo, a bird species present in the Kalahari Desert, frequently sends vocal signals to other birds to warn them of predators. However, “...if a drongo ​​spots a meerkat in possession of a particularly winsome food item,” it will emit this alarm falsely so that “...the meerkat drops the food and flees to safety,” and the drongo can take the gecko for itself (King 2019). The drongo is intentionally misleading the meerkat to acquire its food. Male cuttlefish emit female-like signals to deceive potential mating rivals while emitting male signals to the female fish. This raises their chances of survival against rival males while increasing their chances of mating. Animals deceive everyday to benefit their chances of survival. Appropriate with the animal kingdom, humans often lie to avoid perceived threats, whether they are endangering or not. 

Humans lie to avoid perceived threats. In other words, people often avoid telling the truth out of fear that their honesty will lead to negative repercussions. For instance, we lie to “...protect ourselves…the more threatening a situation seems, the more we may want to lie,” to escape the consequences of our truths (Scott, 2004). A child will lie to their parents to avoid getting grounded, an employee may lie to their boss to avoid getting fired, or a partner may lie to their spouse to avoid breaking up. Oftentimes, we lie to escape consequences we perceive as threatening due to their negativity and daunting nature driven by fear. Inversely, we may lie to gain certain benefits. A child may lie to their parents to get TV rewards, an employee may lie to their boss to get a promotion, or a partner may lie to their spouse for praise. Whether lying to avoid threats or to gain benefits, these lies often benefit the liar in the short term as they are gaining something or avoiding harm, and this benefit alone is enough to motivate lying. 

More unique to the human species, lies are sometimes used to avoid hurting others. The truth can hurt, and people lie so others won't be emotionally harmed by this truth. There is a classic trope in television media that depicts a parent stumbling upon their child’s pet that has seemingly died. Instead of truthfully telling the child that their pet has passed, the parents often told the child it ran away, to avoid evoking a strong emotional response from their child. The parents don't want to hurt their kid with this truth, so they choose to lie. This is a common example of lying to avoid hurting others. People don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings, and sometimes they lie to avoid this. In a study evaluating the effects of sadness empathy on prosocial lying by Li Xu in 2019, 139 random participants were divided into two groups. One group was primed for sadness empathy and the other was not. The results showed that “...prosocial lying frequency was higher in the sadness empathy-priming condition than the neutral event condition,” indicating that empathetic conditions increased chances of lying (Xu, 2019). When others are at risk of feeling emotional distress, humans try to find ways to alleviate this pain, and lying becomes a perceived option. 

Lying is far more than a moral failing, as it’s a deeply rooted trait in human behavior with biological, psychological, and social dimensions. Habitual lying is a common trait in human behavior, and the concept of deception dates back to biblical times. Despite centuries of ethical guidance, humans lie through protection, survival, or compassion. Understanding the psychology of lying allows further transparency about human fears, desires, and behaviors that craft our everyday choices.

References

King, Barbara J. “Deception in the Animal Kingdom.” Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/deception-in-the-animal-kingdom.

Li Xu, et al. “Sadness Empathy Facilitates Prosocial Lying.” Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, vol. 47, no. 9, Sept. 2019, pp. 1–11. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/10.2224/sbp.8371.

Scott, Robert Ian. “POLITICS, ADVERTISING, AND EXCUSES: Why Do We Lie?” ETC: A Review of General Semantics, vol. 61, no. 2, 2004, pp. 187–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42578400. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.