Some Lie a Lot: Most people are fairly honest, but there are prolific liars among us

Development of the Lying in Everyday Situations Scale. Christian L Hart et al. The American Journal of Psychology 132(3):343-352, September 2019. DOI: 10.5406/amerjpsyc.132.3.0343

Abstract: Deception researchers have developed various scales that measure the use of lying in specific contexts, but there are limited tools that measure the use of lies more broadly across the various contexts of day-today life. We developed a questionnaire that assesses the use of various forms of lying, including protecting others, image enhancement, saving face, avoiding punishment, vindictiveness, privacy, entertainment, avoiding confrontation, instrumental gain, and maintaining and facilitating relationships. The results of a factor analysis brought our original 45-item scale down to a two-dimensional, 14-item scale that we have titled the Lying in Everyday Situations (LiES) scale. In three studies, the concurrent validity of the scale was assessed with several domain-specific lying scales, two Machiavellianism scales, a social desirability scale, and reports of actual lie frequency over a 24-hour period. The scale was also assessed for interitem consistency (Cronbach's α) and test-retest reliability. We found that the LiES scale was a reliable and valid measure of lying. The LiES scale may be a useful tool for assessing the general tendency to lie across various contexts.

Popular version... Some Lie a Lot: Most people are fairly honest, but there are prolific liars among us. Christian L Hart. Psychology Today, Oct 10, 2019. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-nature-deception/201910/some-lie-lot

Check also Deception in psychotherapy: Frequency, typology and relationship. Drew A. Curtis, Christian L. Hart. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, September 9 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/10/a-majority-of-participants-had-been.html

And, from 2009, The Prevalence of Lying in America: Three Studies of Self‐Reported Lies. Kim B. Serota, Timothy Levine, Franklin J. Boster. Human Communication Research 36(1):2 - 25, December 2009. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2009.01366.x

Abstract: This study addresses the frequency and the distribution of reported lying in the adult population. A national survey asked 1,000 U.S. adults to report the number of lies told in a 24-hour period. Sixty percent of subjects report telling no lies at all, and almost half of all lies are told by only 5% of subjects; thus, prevalence varies widely and most reported lies are told by a few prolific liars. The pattern is replicated in a reanalysis of previously published research and with a student sample. Substantial individual differences in lying behavior have implications for the generality of truth-lie base rates in deception detection experiments. Explanations concerning the nature of lying and methods for detecting lies need to account for this variation.

And Sexual Coercion by Women: The Influence of Pornography and Narcissistic and Histrionic Personality Disorder Traits. Abigail Hughes, Gayle Brewer, Roxanne Khan. Archives of Sexual Behavior, October 7 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/10/female-perpetrators-and-postrefusal.html

And “Sorry, I already have a boyfriend”: Masculine honor beliefs and perceptions of women’s use of deceptive rejection behaviors to avert unwanted romantic advances. Evelyn Stratmoen, Emilio D. Rivera, Donald A. Saucier. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, August 7, 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/10/sorry-i-already-have-boyfriend.html

And Parenting by lying in childhood is associated with negative developmental outcomes in adulthood. Peipei Setoh et al. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, September 26 2019, 104680. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/09/childhood-experience-of-parents-lying.html