What Makes Somebody A Good Liar? | Metro News

We’re taught from a very young age that lying is bad.

And mostly, that’s true. Lying is a deception, it enables sneaky, dishonest behaviour and it can hurt people. But not all lies are created equal.

Some lies are out of kindness, or protection – some lies are out of necessity. But, whatever your reason for doing it, you have to be good to properly get away with your deception.

A new study has revealed that there are certain traits that make somebody a good liar.

The research, conducted by Brianna Verigin and her team at Maastricht University, surveyed 194 participants about their lying habits.

People who said they were good liars had a few things in common – which researchers say link to their perception of themselves as successful liars.

Firstly, good liars tend to tell a lot of lies. The study said that people who believe themselves to be good liars ‘may be responsible for a disproportionate amount of lies in daily life’.

Secondly, good liars tell inconsequential lies ‘mostly to colleagues and friends, and generally via face-to-face interactions.’

The secrets to being a good liar

• Keep statements ‘clear and simple’
• Hide your lies in truthful information
• Tell a lot of inconsequential lies and white lies
• Tell your lies with face-to-face interactions

Finally, good liars rely on ‘verbal strategies of deception.’

And there was some revealing information when it came to the strategies of people who believed they were good liars.

17.6% of participants said they tend to keep statements ‘clear and simple’ when they tell a lie, while 13.2% said ‘being vague about details’ was the best way to get someone to believe their lie.

A clever trick that lots of good liars said they used was to hide their lies in ‘truthful information’ – which means it’s really tricky for people to distinguish between a lie and the truth.

Gender played a big part in whether or not participants saw themselves as good liars. Just 27.3% of the women surveyed considered themselves to be good liars, compared to 62.7% of men.

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So if you’re likely to be late for work because of a hangover, or you’re trying to wriggle out of an expensive hen-do – now you’ve got some strategies to employ the perfect lie.

Or, you could just tell the truth. People appreciate that.

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