Telling lies, even the smallest ones, could lead down a slippery slope into making even bigger ones, a new study by the Affective Brain Lab of the University College London suggests.
According to the research, the human brain adapts to the increasing dishonesty, desensitizing it from the effects of telling big lies.
The study, "The brain adapts to dishonesty," was published on the Nature Neuroscience journal. The study uncovered findings of a biological mechanism which supports the slippery slope of small lies escalating into worse acts of dishonesty.
"Whether it's evading taxes, being unfaithful, doping in sports, making up data or committing financial fraud, deceivers often recall how small acts of dishonesty snowballed over time," said study co-author Tali Sharot at a press teleconference.
There are said to be many factors, both cultural and environmental, which contribute to the decision of people to tell lies. However, Sharot and her team decided to study the brain to analyze the increasingly worse behavior of lying from a neurological perspective.
The neuroscientists involved in the research placed 80 subjects in situations where they can tell lies repeatedly and get paid higher based on the magnitude of the lies that they told. The study is said to present the first empirical data that the lies people tell grow bolder as they do it more often.
The researchers then utilized brain scans to reveal that the amygdala, which is the emotional hot spot of the brain, becomes desensitized as the person tells more lies. The amygdala regulates emotion and is activated to make the person feel guilt or shame whenever a lie is told. As more lies are told, the amygdala's reactions continued to decrease.
An interesting point presented in the study, however, is that the trend is only seen when the lies being told are self-serving ones. The escalation of dishonest acts is not observed when the lies that are being said will benefit a partner. When a person tells a lie to benefit a loved one or friend, the escalation of lying and the desensitization of the brain do not happen.
The findings of the study can be used by policymakers to design strategies to deter people from committing acts of dishonesty. The best way for people to avoid being caught in a big lie, however, is to stop themselves from telling a small one.
Earlier in the year, a study found that winners are more likely to cheat or be dishonest in the future.
