Research conducted by One Poll on behalf of confused.com found that the average Brit lies in excess of ten times per week. 40 per cent claim that lies are ”sometimes necessary’. Telling lies appears to have become more acceptable with only 5 percent believing it isn’t.
91 percent of those surveyed admitted to telling a lie during the course of their lifetime. 25 per cent said they would be “happy” to tell lies if they didn’t hurt anybody. 27 per cent didn’t find telling white lies unacceptable.
Telling lies about vices is common
Commonly, participants lied about vices with 25 per cent telling lies about the amount of alcohol they consumed. 41 per cent confessed to being dishonest about how much they had paid for an item and 23 per cent about how much they ate.
Almost 32 per cent had made up an excuse for not taking a call and 31 per cent had told lies about why they were late.
Dishonesty about previous relationships came in at 16 per cent, with 15 per cent lying about their whereabouts on the night before. 14 percent had lied about who they were with the previous night.
7 per cent of participants, who believed they weren’t interesting, confessed to lying on social media to make themselves less boring. 19 per cent of social media liars are between 18 and 24 years of age.
Women come out top for white lies
Women came out higher in the telling of white lies at 67 per cent in comparison to men at 58 per cent. They were also most likely to tell lies about the price of items, and men about the quantity of alcohol consumed.
More than half the people surveyed (54 per cent) admitted lying to their parents. 13 per cent confessed to telling lies when taking out insurance policies, with 44 per cent saying they did this to save money.
The Confused.com life insurance head, Matt Lloyd, expressed little surprise that 91 per cent of Brits said they had lied during their lifetime, since small white lies “are part and parcel of daily life” he said.
However, he was alarmed that 13 percent had lied or withheld information when applying for insurance policies. The consequences of doing so might lead to insurers rejecting or only paying part of a claim.
Lie Detector Test UK
Perhaps the consent to taking a lie detector test may appear as a clause in insurance policies in the near future! Read the small print!
