News
Wall Street Journal: The survival of the fibbest
Published: 12 May 2010
Your child tells you he didn't eat a cookie despite the tell-tale crumbs all over his mouth. You call your boss to say you're taking "a sick day," feigning a cough while on the phone. You're both lying, but is it the same? Whether we're 2 years old or 62, our reasons for lying are mostly the same: to get out of trouble, for personal gain and to make ourselves look better in the eyes of others. But a growing body of research is raising questions about how a child's lie is different from an adult's lie, and how the way we deceive changes. (Article looks at the collaborative work of University of Toronto's Dr. Kang Lee and McGill's Victoria Talwar).