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Telling small lies causes the brains of liars to become desensitized to lying, new research reveals. Neurologically, with each lie it becomes progressive easier to tell bigger and bigger lies.
The negative emotions that usually accompany lying reduce with repeated lying, the study found.
Dr Tali Sharot, who led the study, explained: "When we lie for personal gain, our amygdala produces a negative feeling that limits the extent to which we are prepared to lie. However, this response fades as we continue to lie, and the more it fades away, the bigger our lies become. This may lead to a 'slippery slope' where small acts of dishonesty escalate into more significant lies."
A series of brain scans carried out while people had the opportunity to lie for personal gain found that repeated liars found it easier and easier to tell bigger lies later on.
It is likely the brain's blunted response to repeated acts of dishonesty reflects a reduced emotional response to these acts. This is in line with suggestions that our amygdala signals aversion to acts that we consider wrong or immoral.
Although only dishonesty was tested in this experiment, the same principle may also apply to escalations in other actions such as risk taking or violent behaviour.
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Source material from PsyBlog
