The FINANCIAL — Perhaps it’s a lie told to your parents about how you so didn’t throw a party the weekend they went away. Could be you want that successful big brother or sister to think you’re earning more than you are. Or maybe you just can’t bring yourself to tell your best friend what you really think of his girlfriend. From white lies to whoppers, there are all sorts of, ahem, not entirely true things which inhabit everyday social interactions. But who are Americans most likely to lie to? And what lies are they most likely to tell?
Overall, the highest percentages of Americans have lied about at least one thing to a parent (43%) or a significant other (41%), according to Harris Interactive Inc. The lowest percentage (32%) have lied to a sibling or siblings – though a third still confirm doing so – and in between fall Americans’ likelihood to have lied to a doctor (38%) or a best friend (36%). But what lies are Americans telling to whom?
The same two topics top the lists of lies told to parents, spouses/significant others and siblings – spending/purchases (15%, 21% and 9%, respectively) and sexual experience (14%, 14% and 7%, respectively).
Other top subjects Americans lie to their parents about include alcohol and illegal substance use (12% each), physical health (11%) and cigarette use (10%).
As for lies told to spouses or significant others, other top fibs beyond the one and two spots involve eating habits (12%), physical health (10%), alcohol use (8%) and exercise habits (also 8%).
Among siblings, income/salary (7%) rounds out the top subjects of deception.
Sexual experience is the top subject Americans lie to their best friends about (12%), followed by income/salary (8%), political opinions (also 8%) and religious beliefs (7%), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
At the doctor’s office, exercise (15%) and eating habits (14%) are the most commonly fibbed-about topics, followed by physical health (10%).
Men are more likely than women to have lied about, well, most of these things – to most of these people. The sole reversal this trend is in lying to best friends about eating habits – here women (8%, vs. 5% of men) are the more likely culprits.
Looking at Americans by age, there’s little difference when it comes to likelihood to have lied to a spouse or significant other. However, 18-34 year olds are quickest by far to lie to parents (61%), best friends (47%), doctors (also 47%) and siblings (42%), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
The Honesty Gap
Are there things you can share with some of your closest friends and family, but not with others within that same circle? You’re not alone. Americans were presented with pairs of figures in their lives and asked whether they agree that there are things they can be honest about with one of them but not the other – your mother but not your father, for example – and vice versa. The biggest “honesty gap” can be found between those who can be honest about some things with their spouse or significant other, but not their family (50%). Thirty-one percent (31%) say there are things they can be honest with their family about but not their spouse of significant other. Women are more likely than men to say there are things they can be honest with their main squeeze about but not their family (54% and 47%, respectively), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans say there are things they can be honest with a sibling about but not with a parent, while 35% say the inverse.
Four in ten (40%) have things they can be honest about with mom but not dad; 29% say the reverse.
Maybe it’s a guy thing – men are more likely to say there are things they can be honest with their father about but not their mother (34% men vs. 25% women).
It’s a closer call between spouses/significant others and best friends, with 48% saying there are things they can be honest about with their honey but not their bestie; 42% say the opposite.
Calling in “Sick”
From overdoing it while out with friends last night to not wanting to run into a certain someone at a cocktail party, there are plenty of reasons Americans might want to get out of a variety of engagements. Of course, often the truth is not the most diplomatic approach. But what are the numbers?
Nearly four in ten Americans (37%) say they’ve lied to get out of work, while a third (32%) have lied to get out of a social event, and roughly a quarter have lied to get out of school (26%) or a family gathering (23%). Fourteen percent (14%) have lied to get out of a date, one in ten to get out of a religious event (10%) or a doctor’s appointment (10%), and under one in ten say they’ve lied to get out of a speeding ticket (7%) or jury duty (6%), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Women are more likely to have lied to get out of a social event (36% women vs. 29% men), and – sorry, guys -to get out of a date (17% women vs. 12% men).
Lying about Lying
Either more people think their fellow Americans are dishonest than they actually are, or fewer are willing to fess up to fibbing are actually doing so. Seven in ten Americans (69%) think others lied when taking this poll, but only 6% raise their hands (so to speak) when asked if they did so themselves.
Depending on your outlook, men (8%) are twice as likely as women (4%) either to have lied on the poll in the first place (shame on them!) or to have come clean about doing so (good for them!).
18-34 year olds are roughly three times more likely than their elders to say they lied when taking the poll (12% 18-34 year olds, vs. 3% 35-44 year olds, 4% 45-64 year olds and 5% among those aged 65+).
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