Deception is defined by Metts (1989) as an act that involves an intentional misrepresentation of information with the goal of persuading someone to believe something the deceiver knows to be false. There are many other definitions used throughout social psychology in the study of deception yet, no matter how broad and/or vague, they all have one common idea; deception is the intentional presentation of false information. Many people are brought up with the understanding that lying and deception are immoral acts yet such communication tactics are commonly used in everyday life for many different purposes. There have been many investigations into the subject of deception, the conclusion of which is that the absolute absence of deception is a …show more content…
It can be used as a way to manage personal impressions as well as how we are perceived by others and the way we interact with each other. According to Erin Bryant (2008) there are three different types of lies all with their own definition and level of impact. He believes that in order to properly explain deception they need not be categorised into one category as it is generally understood that some lies are worse than others. Bryant groups lie into three subgroups; white lies, gray lies, and real lies. White lies, he explains, lacks malicious intent. These types of lies are considered acceptable as the purpose is not to inflict harm, but to keep someone happy. Lies such as telling someone they don’t look fat in those jeans when they do, or you liked their homemade trifle when you didn’t. These lies are to keep someone from having their feelings hurt. In contrast, gray lie's are too serious to be categorized as white lies but not serious enough to be real lies. Things such as telling a young child their grandfather has gone on a long holiday instead of telling them he died. It is undoubtedly a full blown lie, but its intention is to keep an individual from pain. Lastly, a real lie is a result of complete fabrication for the benefit of the liar. This could be telling your wife you’re at golf when …show more content…
So if lying is so common, why does it occur in the first place? There are three main reasons why people lie according to Tim Cole of DePaul University, reciprocity, avoiding punishment and intimacy. Reciprocity is the perception that someone else is lying to you-leading you to reciprocate with dishonesty and withdraw. One’s use of deception is related to the belief their significant other is being dishonest. Avoiding punishment is how it sounds, an avoidance of imposed costs associated with telling the truth. In this case, confidentiality is not as important as a partners reaction to unwelcome information. In this case, fear is more likely motivated by a partners disapproval and if the behaviour in question violated expectation. “A positive relationship exists between deceptive behaviour and the extent to which romantic partners are perceived to react negatively when receiving unwanted information.” (Tim Cole) Lastly, deception relating to intimacy and individual needs. Deception is used in this instance predominantly in an attempt to control the amount of personal information they reveal to others; failing to disclose portent information or misleading others allows individuals to manage the boundary between themselves and their relational partners and to protect their privacy.
She lies to the bank so she doesn’t get charged with “$60 in overdraft fees”, out-and-out lie. She does not tell the truth to her husband about her day so he does not “[keel] over,” white lie. She lies to her clients so that she does not get fired for telling the truth about the reason she is late. She lies to her friends so that her friend’s feelings do not get hurt, (Ericsson 181).All of these are justifiable because of the intent. There are consequences to telling the truth in these cases and thus Ericsson needs to lie to avoid the
Deception is defined as a crafty procedure or practice meant to deceive or defraud. People tend to view this as a sinister action. No matter how sinister it can be, it can also be utilized to gain information and knowledge. How a person uses deception varies among different people. Generally, the more clever people tend to utilize deception very efficiently. Odysseus masters deception in the Odyssey by disguising himself. Odysseus isn't alone for Athena also uses disguises. With that being said, disguises allow Odysseus to succeed in killing the suitors.
Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, analyzes and reflects on how lying has simply become the norm in our society. We all lie, there is not one person in the world that does not lie. Most people lie because they are afraid of telling the truth, however what they do not know is telling a lie can lead them in the wrong direction because many things can happen when lying to a person. The person can find out when everything unravels that person will not have trust in you and you would be known as a liar. To every action there is a consequence, so why not deal with just one consequence when telling the
In “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, the author uses her knowledge to talk about the different ways of lies and how those lies affect the liar, as well as the people who had been told lies. According to the author’s essay, there are 10 types of lies that people encounter every single day: the White Lie, Facades, Ignoring the Plain Facts, Deflecting, Omission, Stereotypes and Cliches, Groupthink, Out-and-Out Lies, Dismissal, and Delusion. Throughout the essay, it is connoted that people are lying in various ways even though they are not intended to. I had been taught that lying is a bad habit. According to Ericsson, there are many types of lie and I did three of them in my life: the White Lie, Omission, and Out-and-Out Lies; however, I can defend my lies for good purposes.
Lying is simply an act of not telling the truth, and this definition of lying will be used in future sections of this paper. There are three groups of lies t...
Author Allison Kornet in her article (1997) “The Truth about Lying: Has Lying Gotten a Bad Rap” states that deception or lying has become a part of everyone’s life. A person lies or deceives as often as he brushes his teeth or combs his hair. Many psychologists have neglected or ignored the concept of deception or lying and its effects on everyone’s life. Kornet explains that in the previous two to three decades, the psychologists started noticing or analyzing the effects of a person’s deception on others or why a person lies so many times in his day-to-day life. The person might learn lying from childhood
Deception is a part of everyday life. Whether it be a couple lying to each other or an infomercial claiming something is true when it is false, deception has always been an oppressive part of society. For years, people have lied to each other. Ancient and modern day relationships have experienced turmoil caused by deceit. In these myths, characteristics of present day humans shine through because they are the ones writing the myths.
Lies and disguise have been a part of stories and life since the time of Shakespeare. The Shakespeare play, Taming of the Shrew and the movie, 10 Things I Hate About You, both tackle deception. Multiple characters from both stories pretend to be someone they aren’t. People deceive others for different reasons including fun, money, and even love. This shows how a lot of people have ulterior motives, and everything is done to get something in return.
Whether we like it or not deception happens to play an intricate role in romantic relationships. It has been suggested that perhaps deception in romantic relationships is motivated by a concern for the relationship and the individuals involved in it. The study wanted to explore the motives for using deceptions and to what extent it is being used.
The deception was explained in chapter 12, Deception is a false argument or sentence in a conversation or in a simple word lie. Deception is linked with lie, mislead, and exaggeration. In the chapter explain deception on how common it is, the diversity, the communication with deception, and detecting lies.
For example, Rebecca recently told her son that there was no more cartoons on the T.V. This connects to my argument because, she is lying to make a more brighter and positive son. This shows that she is making him ready for the future by lying. In addition, If your wife and you are going to a Noble prize, and asks if she looks fat in her dress, you say no. This shows that he is making a positive result between them by lying. What I mean by this is that you should lie to not hurt someone's feelings. So lie only if it is going to make a positive
White lies are defined as diplomatic or well-intentioned deception. There are many different types of white lies that are told, such as, lies of flattery for example; if someone gives another person a gift and the gift was not what the person wanted, this person would reply “thank you so much! I just love it!” This type of white lie is told because telling someone that their gift was undesirable would make the teller look like an inconsiderate being.
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
The main reason being that there is no evidence that a pattern of physiological reactions is unique to deception. Basically, an honest person may become anxious and uneasy when answering truthfully, and a person who is lying may appear cool-natured and honest. There are also few good studies that validate the ability of polygraph procedures to detect when a person is being deceptive (a-team.org). Many doctors have even said it may be impossible to conduct a study that truthfully measures validity. In situations in the real world, knowing exactly what the truth is can be very
Telling the truth teaches one person self- respect for themselves and others as well. Telling the truth also sets a good example for others to do the same thing and make a “chain reaction”. People can make a “chain reaction” by passing on what they have done from one person to another, and before you know it, everyone is changing greatly, and the world is progressing tremendously. Lies are told all around the world, and they are told every day. One lie can often lead to another lie and cause you to be caught up in one big lie that will be hard to get out of if people do not tell the truth. If a person thinks that is okay to lie, they better think again, the truth always comes out no matter how hard a person tries to keep it in, or how much someone thinks that they can get away with lying. No person can keep in or hold a grudge with what they have done. After all, telling the truth is the right thing to do, and everyone should do it. Telling the truth is always much easier than the trouble of a