Again, Curtis says that many people lie in order to reduce anxiety or awkwardness, especially in social situations.
“Impression management” — basically, trying to make people think more highly of you — is also a driver of dishonesty, he says.
Even people who don’t normally lie may be dishonest if they feel especially anxious, or they’re keen to make a positive impression, he says. First dates or job interviews are some common scenarios in which people who normally tell the truth may lie or exaggerate, he explains.
People also lie because of failures of executive functioning, he says. One article defined executive functions as a set of “future-oriented” brain operations that allow people to plan ahead and make choices that will benefit them down the road.
If a person’s executive functioning is not well-developed, or is somehow impaired, Curtis says lying may become more frequent. “With pathological lying, we see that planning or forethought is often lacking,” he says.
Interestingly, teens lie more than people of any other age group, Curtis notes. Research shows that executive functioning is still developing throughout adolescence and even into young adulthood.
Finally, he says that lying is also a feature of some formal psychological disorders. “With both psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder, you often see dishonesty without remorse,” he says. “The cold, Machiavellian, calculating liar — these people are out there.”
But these people would not be considered pathological liars because their lying causes them no distress.
