The Acceptability of Lying and Its Relationship with Other Personality Constructs among a Sample of Adults

Abstract

Lying is seemingly common in daily life, but it is scarcely researched despite its possible relevance to understanding a range of pathological behaviors and associated deception. Our aim was to investigate whether the acceptability of lying might indicate other personality constructs by analyzing a variety of questionnaire responses collected from a cross-sectional sample (n = 138). Total scores for lying acceptability were moderately associated with Machiavellianism and with functional impairment due to lying at work, in social settings, and at home. Scores for these tests were not closely associated with problematic usage of the internet, self-esteem, or religious activity/religiosity. Three distinct groupings produced by a multidimensional scale informed us of how lying might be better understood as an explanatory mechanism for compulsive behaviors. We also noted possible avenues for future research into the acceptability of lying and deception.