How Lying Affects a Person
According to scientific research, regularly telling lies helps people get used to it and worry less about their own dishonesty. As the article explains: “Once we lie, it becomes easier and easier to do so again—many people know this from personal experience. Experiments conducted by researchers at University College London have shown that the reasons for this psychological effect are rooted in a part of the brain called the amygdala—often referred to as the fear center, but in reality, the amygdala is involved in forming all kinds of emotions.”
The Experiment
The experiment worked as follows: a person had to mislead their partner about how many coins were in a glass cup. Lying was encouraged: if the other person was convinced there were more coins than there actually were, the deceiver received a reward. At the same time, the researchers monitored the liar’s brain activity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
It turned out that with each subsequent lie, the activity in the amygdala decreased. Interestingly, the more the amygdala’s activity dropped, the bigger the next lie about the coins and the cup would be. Apparently, when a person lies for the first time, the amygdala “tenses up,” and we feel somewhat unpleasant emotions about our own dishonesty. But then a kind of adaptation occurs, the amygdala gets used to it, and we lie without fearing those uncomfortable feelings.
However, it’s not possible to completely suppress this internal resistance: the experiment included a maximum level of lying about the number of coins, but no one reached it.
Types of Lies and Their Impact
It’s important to note that the study focused on the most unpleasant type of lying—lying solely for one’s own benefit. The authors write in Nature Neuroscience that when participants were asked to lie for mutual benefit—meaning both the liar and their partner would gain—the amygdala’s response was less intense, and people lied more and more willingly. Most likely, this is because the lie seemed more justified.