The ability to alter the narrative of situations is a characteristic of the human being that is used for various specific purposes. Beyond the fact that lying is considered something negative, according to the social perspective, the truth is that there are some reasons why people put it into practice.
If you feel any interest in the subject and want to discover the origin of the ability to lie, we recommend that you continue reading. In this Psychology-Online article, we will provide you with information about why do we lie according to psychology, how and when we started doing it and what are the most common lies that are usually told.
The use of lies is not exclusive to adults, but rather begins during childhood. In general, boys and girls understand the events that happen around them by interacting with the environment.
Faced with situations that cause some difficulty, the resource of lying is usually used. to reach a difficult goal to achieve if allusion was made to the truth. As a result of this, when in doubt about when we started to lie, reference can be made to the moment in which,
After a while, this quality can be transferred to the school environment, since there it is understood that altering the facts can represent a benefit. If you hold this kind of thinking, lying behavior can become established in adulthood. However, this description is generalized and does not take into account the particularities of each person. For this reason, it is convenient to locate in a timely manner what is the purpose of lying in a human being.
Why do people lie? Beyond the fact that the lie can be denoted in each person in different ways, the truth is that responds to specific objectives depending on the situation in which it occurs. As a result of this, we will now explain what are the main reasons for lying:
- Sense of belonging: the idea of changing the speech or actions may be aimed at being part of a particular place or group. In some cases, people are looking for a site that gives them an identity. For this reason, lying is a resource that is usually used in these cases.
- Search for a benefit: people who lie to get a benefit for their lives. Sometimes, human beings consider it necessary to appeal to a lie instead of responding with the truth.
- Distrust towards people: Those who feel a lack of security and uncertainty regarding the rest, lie to protect themselves from possible harm and dangers in the social environment. In this article you will see how to manage uncertainty.
- fear of rejection: people with fear of being rejected, both for physical qualities and personality, can make use of lies. Indeed, we lie to feel accepted by society.
- family mandates: The members of the family environment are the main reference that a person has while growing up. If people lie regularly in the closest environment, there is a good chance that the person will adopt the lie as a pattern of behavior.
- Low self-esteem: Lack of self-esteem and insecurities can lead someone to lie to prevent other people from seeing who they really are. Discover how to overcome insecurity in this article.
- Punishment avoidance: when someone carries out an action for which he knows that he must be punished, it is possible that he alludes to a lie to avoid said consequence.
- Mental disorders: in specific cases, the use of lies may correspond to the presence of a mental disorder. However, the diagnosis must be specified by a mental health professional who evaluates the clinical conditions of each person.
To better understand why we lie, it is necessary to mention in which specific situations this resource is used the most. Next, we will provide some examples of the most common lies of people:
- Fail an exam: a student has failed an exam at school. In order to avoid the punishment provided by her parents, she could tell them that she got a high grade.
- To be unfaithful: a man has been unfaithful to his wife, since he has a lover, however, he decides not to share this information with his partner so that she does not suffer love disappointment.
- Lying about one's abilities: when a person says that he knows how to do something, how to swim or fight, but he doesn't really know how to do it. In this case, people lie to look good in front of others.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
