Question 1

Why do we lie?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

The short answer is we lie when the truth is a problem. When what we know to be the case conflicts with our communication goals, we may to deceive. Deception can be understood as problem solving. There is a whole chapter in my book Duped on the issue, or you might see:  
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2015.1137079

Question 2

If a teenager is a pathological liar, is this a sign of a later-emerging personality disorder?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

That is a little out of my expertise. I could be, but it might also be something they mature of out of. In general, teens lie about twice as often as college students, and college students lie more than older adults.  See https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2013.806254  also https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2015.06.007

Question 3

What is the difference between lying and confabulation?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

I think as most people use the words, lying is knowing and intentional, while confabulation is an "honest" memory error

Question 4

Is it lying if you believe you are telling the truth?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Most people, especially most experts say no.  Most definitions of lying require knowing what you say is false to intentionally mislead.  But not everyone agrees; for example, see Robert Trivers book The Folly of Fools.  My book Duped has a whole chapter on defining lying and deception and some of the difficulties and disagreements involved.

Question 5

Is there really a lie-truth dichotomy? Doesn't reality lie on a spectrum?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Good question, and people disagree on this. If a lie is a knowing and intentional effort to mislead someone by communicating information known to be false, then it's either a lie or not. This said, this can be done with a bit of false mixed in with lots of truth or all-false or anywhere in between. But, it's not the % false content at issue but the use of false information to mislead that makes a lie a lie.

Question 6

Is persuasion a form of lying?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

No, but lying can be used to persuade. So can real facts and sound logical argument. In my view, the best persuasion is honest and seeks to change others minds with sound evidence and reasoning.

Question 7

How much of a role does the perceived authority of the person stating the untruth play into one believing it? i.e. person stating the untruth is POTUS, younger sibling, stranger in a suit, unkempt stranger...

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

It surely plays some role, but may vary from person-to-person. Generally people who see human relations in terms of status and hierarchy are more likely to believe something because an authority says it. People higher on the trait openness are less susceptible.

Question 8

Some social psych experts believe we look to warmth & intelligence most to determine one's 'likeability'. Warmth to indicate friend or foe, intelligence to indicate how much help/damage can be done to us. Is there a mix of these characteristics that make someone most believable?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

I have an idea I call the BQ (believability quotient ) that I cover in chapter 13 of my book Duped. Likability is a big part of it, but also other things like communication fluency, composure, a consistent demeanor etc.  Warmth, intelligence, and likability can all make people more credible and believable.

Question 9

Since patterns in lying can be generalized to some degree, can people improve their ability to detect lies? And does an inflated/underinflated belief in ability to detect lies accurately increase the length of time we 'hold on to' an untruth, even when presented with evidence to the contrary?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

People can improve their ability to detect lies. I cover 5 ways in chapter 14 of my book Duped. Generally people over-estimate their lie detection ability.  Generally, the more confident we are, the less like we are to recognize an error.

Question 10

What differentiates normal lying and pathological lying?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Good question.  Hard question. People disagree about this.  Here is what i think. Pathological liars lie more than others and without apparent reason and with little regard for getting caught. Pathological liars will lie even when the truth would work better for them.

Question 11

How frequently does the average person lie?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

The average people tells between 1 and 2 lies per day, but that is misleading because lying is not normally distributed and quite skewed. Maybe 75% of people lie less than average and most lies are told by a few prolific liars. The average is 1-2 but a majority of people tell 0-1. See  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01366.x  There is also a whole chapter on this in my book Duped.

Question 12

Can people pass a polygraph by believing their own lies?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

This is a little out of my expertise, but a polygraph measures arousal, not lying directly. People who sincerely believe might not react to questions with arousal.

Question 13

What is the evolutionary purpose of lying?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

I'm not sure of lying evolved directly, or if was a byproduct of evolving the ability to communicate and to have theory mind.

Question 14

If there was no middle ground, do you believe we are better off believing everything or believing nothing that others say?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Easy call. Believe everything. Only being able to learn from first hand experience would be awful.

Question 15

How does lying impact the person telling the lie compared to how it impacts the person being told the lie?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

We can come to believe our own lies. Lying not only erodes other's trust in us, it also erodes the liars trust in others.

Question 16

What are some signs that an individual is gullible?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

Almost everyone is gullible, although probably some more than others.  In my truth-default theory, the idea is that we believe unless suspicion is triggered. Some people have more sensitive triggers than others. If someone believe really implausible things and does not catch on to satire, than might be a sign.

Question 17

Are there reliable behavioral cues that signal that a person is lying?

Timothy Levine · Accepted Answer

That is currently a matter of debate and depend on how high the bar is for "reliable." If the standard is not zero validity, then vocal pitch, pupil dilatation, and the number of details might have some value on average over large numbers of people. If the standard is useful in correctly classifying some specific communication as truth or lie, then no probably not. My work shows that cues-based lie detection makes people worse lie detectors because cues vary from liar to liar and honest people do them too.

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