Lies are our salvation
Why do lies have such a bad reputation? We think lying is a pretty nice thing. We can conceal embarrassing things (? Unheard! Somebody has to drive me in!), Prevent verbal injuries (? Sweetheart, even with Waschbärbauch are you as sexy as before.?) And social norms. ("I'm fine, thank you."). And besides, we can get a benefit from it. (? Mäuschen, go to the daddy. He wants to make you a fresh diaper.?)
Lying is a competence?, also confirms Dr. Nina Krüger, psychologist at the University of Hamburg. "A well-made lie is very complex. We need to remember who we've been telling what, when, and why, so as not to get us tangled in our stories.? The good thing is: "Over the years, we are getting better and better with it," says the expert. Because, yes: you can learn to lie.
Already in childhood, this starts. Already at 18 months children learn how to lie. First of all for your own benefit. "Mama said I can have another ice cream. Why do you suddenly develop this ability? Well, because we are just as good role models for them. Because we lie every day around head and collar.
But how often? "There is no exact mean," says expert Nina Krüger. "Depending on what is already considered a lie in a study, the numbers vary between 2 and 200 lies a day." For example, one of the largest studies to date, "From junior to senior Pinocchio ?, which interviewed more than 1,000 people, averaged an average of 2.2 lies a day. Why is the number so low? Because many people, the boys and the elderly, do not lie much, but a small group of people do a lot. And that's us: people, in the middle of life. We let it really crack with the untruths.
That does not surprise us now, right? If we had to tell the truth to our colleagues, in-laws or acquaintances all day, we would have a pretty big problem. Sure, boss, do I like doing? would we have to? Age, make the Sch ... but yourself !? say. And the old acquaintance would not get any ... it's nice to see each other again, but a ... just leave, I've never liked you before? to listen. Were it not for the cunning of lying, humanity would probably have long since died out.
Who is actually better at lying? Men or women? The women, of course, we would now argue with fervor, right? After all, we clearly have much more social and emotional competence and have a lot more linguistically on the box than the men. All the good arguments that make us great liar barons. "Women can answer questions more quickly with a lie than men," says Nina Krüger. Maybe that's an advantage? So we lie to life easier, happy about unwanted gifts and distribute exuberant compliments? and are pretty prompt and convincing.
Even for the honest ones among us there is still hope. Because even when lying: practice makes perfect. The more often we do it, the better we become in it. So keep training. Who knows what it will help us one day?
