Photo: flickr
Most people would think that lying involves not telling the whole truth, or tweaking some bits of information. Yet lying also involves telling the whole truth--just matching different parts together to create an impression that is misleading. This is called paltering and it is a common deception.
Paltering would seem almost more ethical than blatant lying because there is no false piece of information included. However, the course and aftermath is the same. People leave out important and relevant information and actively attempt to create a mistaken impression. Thus, paltering harms reputations and trust just as much as what we would think of as lying. In addition, lying does not just have a negative impact on the recipients, but also on the person paltering. The brain can adapt to dishonesty and become more and more desensitized to behind dishonest. That means that we feel less bad about lying and can do it more easily.
Source material from Workplace Psychology