Men are bigger liarsMen are bigger liars
Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 May 2010 17:36 Tuesday, 18 May 2010 12:14
Men are bigger liars than women according to a new poll carried out for the Science Museum in London. 25% of men and 20% of women admitted lying to their mother while only 10% of people admitted lying to their partner.
For men, the poll reveals an average of three lies per day. Women are a bit more honest telling just two lies a day. The survey also revealed that almost one fifth of people think lie detection is acceptable to use in everyday life, with over one in ten agreeing that lie detection is acceptable in the workplace. 75 per cent think lie detection is fine to use in criminal cases, in comparison almost 15 per cent did not.
The poll found the top ten lies as follows.
| Top ten lies by Men | Top ten lies by Womem |
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1. I didn’t have that much to drink 2. Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine 3. I had no signal 4. It wasn’t that expensive 5. I’m on my way 6. I’m stuck in traffic 7. No, your bum doesn’t look big in that 8. Sorry, I missed your call 9. You’ve lost weight 10. It’s just what I’ve always wanted |
1. Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine 2. I don’t know where it is, I haven’t touched it 3. It wasn’t that expensive 4. I didn’t have that much too drink 5. I’ve got a headache 6. It was in the sale 7. I’m on my way 8. Oh, I’ve had this ages 9. No, I didn’t throw it away 10. It’s just what I’ve always wanted |
The poll was conducted to promote the launch of the revamped ‘Who am I?’ gallery at the Science Museum on 26 June 2010, which makes sense of brain science, genetics and human behaviour.
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Comical Ali from the Iraq War - One of the greatest liars of all time? |
The majority of people in the poll believe women are the better liars with two thirds of people thinking women are best at spotting someone who is telling a fib. 14% of women say they can always tell when they are being lied to.
Ironically while 84 per cent of people think there is such a thing as an acceptable lie, three quarters went on to say it was OK to fib so long as you were saving someone's feelings.
8 per cent have been dumped after lying to their partner, and 7 per cent have got into trouble at work after telling one too many porkies.
