Compared with most animals, humans engage in a host of behaviours that are destructive to our own emotional wellness, and the wellbeing of others. With your ability to talk, perhaps, comes a unique opportunity to lie and cheat, but why do humans do it so much?
Studies have found that lying is a common behaviour among the human race, and though no one quite knows, for certain, why you do it, it has been often tied to deep psychological factors. University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman has conducted studies in which people lie frequently, with 60% lying at least once during a 10-minute conversation. He explains, ‘It’s tied in with self-esteem. We find that as soon as people feel that their self-esteem is threatened, they immediately begin to lie at higher levels.’
Another study has found that telling fibs isn’t even the easier option, but that lying takes 30% longer than telling the truth and doing it on purpose involves a complex definition of processes. According to philosophy professor James E. Mahon, of Washington and Lee University, ‘Certain conditions have to be in place for a statement to rise to the level of a lie. First, a person must make a statement and must believe that the statement is false. Second, the person making the statement must intend for the audience to believe that the statement is true. Anything else falls outside the definition of lying that I have defended.’
And without lying, another destructive behaviour would become very difficult: cheating. According to a survey on Americans by the Pew Research Centre, about 10% are ambivalent about cheating on a spouse, saying that it is morally acceptable or not a moral issue. However, studies have shown that people who espouse high moral standards are among the worst cheats, as they, in some twisted way, consider cheating to be an ethically justifiable behaviour in certain situations.
Experts say that cheating comes down to a simple explanation: men are wired to want sex, a lot, and are more likely than women to cheat. Lawrence Josephs, a clinical psychologist at Adelphi University in New York, comments that men in power, such as politicians who otherwise urge good family values, are sometimes more likely to cheat on a spouse. ‘People don’t necessarily practice what they preach,’ he says. ‘It’s not clear to what extent people’s ethical values are actually running what they do or don’t do.’
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