Lie, damned lies and statistics

Social Situations
Lies are told in approximately one out of every three social situations.

Protect yourself
People's willingness to lie is motivated by their desire to protect their public self-image and also their internal sense of worth

Lying to friends
People are more willing to lie about performance on a task to people they know as opposed to people they do not know.

It's subjective
People are more likely to lie about their performance on a task when the results are subjective, as opposed to objective.


Argo, J.J., White, K. & Dahl, D.W. (2006) "Social comparison theory and deception in the interpersonal exchange of consumption information." Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 99-108