Daniela

Daniela Ochoa

Mrs. Shumate

English 2

15 May 2017

Factors That Will Cause a Person to Lie

Lying has become such a common thing among us, people tell many lies whether they are

big or small. From an Im fine to an I didnt kill my girlfriend who I used to stalk on the

daily, lies are told everyday. YOU by Caroline Kepnes, is a novel that looks into the lives of

Joe, who is a stalker, a murderer, and a liar, and Beck, who is his now dead, stalked girlfriend.

There are several factors for Joes behavior, more specifically, lying. Lying comes from behavior

learned early in a persons life, the environment a person lives in, and to avoid negative

consequences.

People will lie because they learned to do so when they were young and if the

environment surrounding them requires them to. While people think lying comes directly from

an individual making it their choice, it actually comes from the environment and the conditions

the individual is in. Lying is introduced early in a childs life in a way to a) escape punishment or

b) get a benefit they dont deserve. Lying is especially easy for them if they are not under any

supervision. By enforcing this behavior early in life, it becomes easier and routinary. Adults lie

because of the same reason: to get away with benefits they do not deserve. Lying is easy when

the conditions are right and when a person was never taught to tell the truth. Lying comes from

the environment surrounding a person. For example: Joe, the main character in YOU, didnt

graduate high school and worked at a bookstore his whole life where he was abused and tricked

into doing stuff. This way he learned to do the same to other people. It is no longer a choice, but
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a behavior he believes is right. As mentioned in International Journal of Psychology &

Psychological Therapy. A Developmental-Behavioral Analysis of Lying by Mitch J. Fryling.

...lies may be necessary and not always harmful.

Lying is developed to avoid negative consequences and can be detected by certain signs.

In an experiment conducted by Bruno Verschuere and Willem in t Hout, Male offenders were

gathered up and divided to analyze their lying behaviors. Most of the offenders preferred to tell

the truth when given the choice. However, when circumstances pointed towards a negative

reactions from telling the truth, they chose to lie. Lying behavior was not directly linked with

psychopathy. However, this shows that people will lie under the right circumstances. Whether

they have a disease or not. Lying could lead to being categorized as an offender since it

requires thought process which will eventually lead into getting caught up in lies. The truth

comes naturally, and that lying requires mental effort. Which will eventually reveal all the

previous harm done. Liars use an escape method to avoid concealed information. In another

experiment by Kiho Kim, Jiwon Kim, and Jang-Han Lee, they found out that guilty subjects will

dwell longer on objects unrelated to a crime. Which shows how liars try to avoid the lie.In my

book, Joe usually tries to avoid situations which he lied about. (His house which is full of

evidence hes a stalker, dead bodies, etc.) The fact that he avoids these situations, places show his

guilt.

Lying is not a natural behavior, but a learned one. A lot of research is currently being

done on the topic to find out why it is so common. Just like Joe, many people could get caught

up in lies. Whether it is because a person feels the need to lie to get out of a situation, because

theyve been doing it from a young age, or because the environment allows it, lying is extremely

common.
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Works Cited

Fryling, Mitch J. "A Developmental-Behavioral Analysis of Lying." International Journal of

Psychology & Psychological Therapy, vol. 16, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 13-22.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=a9h&AN=114122094&site=ehost-live.

KIHO, KIM, et al. "Guilt, Lying, and Attentional Avoidance of Concealed Information." Social

Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, vol. 44, no. 9, Oct. 2016, pp. 1467-

1475. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2224/sbp.2016.44.9.1467.

SU-LIN, CHIU, et al. "Undergraduates' Day-To-Day Lying Behaviors: Implications, Targets,

and Psychological Characteristics." Social Behavior & Personality: An International

Journal, vol. 44, no. 8, Sept. 2016, pp. 1329-1338. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.2224/sbp.2016.44.8.1329.

Verschuere, Bruno and Willem in t Hout. "Psychopathic Traits and Their Relationship with the

Cognitive Costs and Compulsive Nature of Lying in Offenders." Plos ONE, vol. 11, no.

7, 08 July 2016, pp. 1-11. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0158595.