Lying can be cognitively depleting, it can increase the risk that people will be punished, it can threaten people's self-worth by preventing them from seeing themselves as “good” people, and it can generally erode trust in society.
The three most commonly referred to are lies of commission, lies of omission, and lies of influence, aka character lies. The reading below neatly summarizes these and provides some examples.
Lying can trigger an increased heart rate, high blood pressure and elevated levels of stress hormones in the blood, psychologists have found. Over time, that can take a significant toll on mental and physical health.
Sometimes it's to protect the liar from being punished, or to protect someone else from punishment. The lie might be to avoid being embarrassed, to hide an awkward situation, or to simply have others think better of the person telling the fib. Such lying isn't admirable, but not hard to understand why it occurs.
Dishonesty creates a false persona.
It can create severe personal anxiety, psychological problems, and a general sense of mistrust. People have a hard time trusting those who seem artificial.
Copying another person's actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source. Presenting another person's ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source. Using information that is not common knowledge without acknowledging the sources.
Every relationship is built on mutual trust, whether that relationship it is romantic or not. Lying quickly erodes that trust, hurting both parties in the process. Whether it is keeping secrets or telling a little white lie, lying destroys one of the fundamental pillars of a healthy relationship — trust.
Our faith is shattered and the next time around, we find it harder to trust. According to emotion expert Paul Ekman, a lie involves two factors: intent and lack of notification of the other person. In other words, liars make a deliberate choice to fabricate the truth and do not let others know that they are doing this.
Why is lying toxic? By telling a loved one a lie, they will feel betrayed by you and it is this feeling of betrayal that can lead to a breakdown in communication, making them feel even more vulnerable than they already are! Love doesn't hurt but lies do; and the moment you start telling lies, it is no longer love.
Punishment: The negative effect of dishonesty is the punishment that awaits a dishonest person by the law enforcement agents. Such punishment may include imprisonment, flogging etc. Shame: Shame will be the outcome of any dishonest person when the truth is revealed.
Impact of Lying in a Relationship
But even little, infrequent lies can add up to distrust and other relationship problems, including: Decreased trust: If your partner keeps telling lies, it can have a direct impact on trust. The more lies they tell, the less you trust them or have faith in their honesty.
Lying is bad because a generally truthful world is a good thing: lying diminishes trust between human beings: if people generally didn't tell the truth, life would become very difficult, as nobody could be trusted and nothing you heard or read could be trusted - you would have to find everything out for yourself.
88.6 % of reported lies in the study were described as “little white lies,” and 11.4 % were characterized as “big lies.” An example of a “little white lie” would be saying you like a gift you really don't, and an example of a “big lie” would be insincerely declaring "I love you" to someone.
However, there are other lies that can create harm, leading to distress. These types of lies can include making false reports, denying something occurred, or creating a fabrication that isnt based on anything real.
Liars withhold information
Even though good liars can remember small details, they know it's best to avoid getting tangled up in too much information. Liars will also purposefully leave details out of their fabricated stories as a way to manipulate you. Remember: not telling the whole truth is still considered lying.
It's the truth: Teenagers lie. In fact, research by Nancy Darling, an expert on teens and lying, shows that close to 96 percent of adolescents lie to their parents. In another study, 82 percent of high school and college students admitted to lying to their parents in the previous year.