even quite the opposite, assures researchers from the University of Notre Dame. Stopping lying for awhile improves your physical and mental health, shows their study presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention.
Anita Kelly and and Lijuan Wang, the two co-authors, conducted the survey among a panel of 110 people. 35% of the participants are students while the remaining 65% are studying at university. All are between 18 and 71 years old, and the average age is 31.
The panel was divided into two groups: the first was asked to stop lying, big or small, during the ten weeks of the experiment. They still had the right to evade the questions, keep the secrets to themselves, and fail to tell the truth.
The other group served as a control group and received no special instruction. On the other hand, like the first group, he noted the number and nature of the lies told each week.
At the end of each week, the volunteers went through a lie detector test and completed questionnaires assessing their mental well-being and physical as well as the quality of their relationship. At the start of the experiment, on average there were 11 lies per week.
Result after 10 weeks, the “no lie” group (first group) saw their mental and physical well-being improve more significantly than the control group. They reported, for example, that they complained less (of being sad or stressed) and that they suffered less from headaches or other minor health concerns (sore throat…). The control group did not see such a significant improvement.
Both groups reduced their number of untruths over time. But the group “without lie” went from 11 to only one lie per week against 11 to 3 lies for the 2e group. “This proves that we can voluntarily and drastically reduce our daily lies and in return improve our health,” says Anita Kelly.
This study could be of use to all the unrepentant liars who cannot help but tell lies. How to recognize them in your entourage? Decode their gestures (head movements, speed of gaze, posture, position of the feet) and analyze their general behavior.
