The Truth about Lying
Do you ever tell little lies? If yes, when and why?
It seems that everybody tells lies – well, not big lies, but
what we call “white lies.” Telling white lies isn’t really that
bad. Most of the time, people do it because they want to
protect a friendship. Some studies suggest that the
average person lies about seven times a day. The only
real questions are about when we lie and who we tell
lies to. A recent study found that people frequently
stretch the truth. Here are some ways they do it.
#1 Lying to hide something:
People often lie because they want to hide something from someone. For example,
a son doesn’t tell his parents that he’s dating a girl because he doesn’t think they will
like her. Instead, he says he’s going out with the guy.
#2 Giving false excuses:
Sometimes people lie because they don’t want to do something. For example,
someone invites you to a party. You think it will be boring, so you say you’re busy.
#3 Lying to make someone feel good:
Often we stretch the truth to make someone feel good. For example, your friend
cooks dinner for you, but it tastes terrible. Do you say so? No!
You probably say, “Mmm, this is delicious!”
#4 Lying to hide bad news:
Sometimes we don’t want to tell someone bad news. For
example, you have just had a very bad day at work, but you
don’t feel like talking about it. So if someone asks you about
your day, you just say everything was fine.