A new study has revealed that Brits are surprisingly frequent liars, with the average person telling 150 lies big and small every year.
One in five Brits lie at least once every day, and a shocking one in 10 are lying at least 10 times a day.
Research from Lenstore, online retailers of contact lenses, has revealed how often Birmingham residents lie and the topics they lie most often about. Birmingham sits slightly above the national average when it comes to telling lies daily, with 21% of the city being this prolifically dishonest.
But the number of people who lie more than 10 times a day is lower, at less than 3%.
People in Birmingham are most comfortable lying to people they don’t know personally, with 24% of people finding it easiest to lie to strangers.
Work colleagues, along with business clients and customers, are also regularly being subject to dishonesty, with 18% of people in Birmingham regularly lying to colleagues and 15% regularly lying to their clients or customers.
And one in 10 people in Birmingham reported regularly lying to their own boss.
Across the country, those aged over 65 rate themselves as the most honest, with over one in five (22%) saying they never lie. People aged between 25-34 are the biggest fibbers with a third (33%) lying at least once a day.
Saying you are busy to avoid something is the most common lie
There are many little white lies people report telling from time to time. Across Birmingham, the most common lies people tell are:
- Pretending you’re busy to avoid seeing someone/doing something (45%)
- Not seeing emails or messages when you did (34%)
- Hiding an illness or health problem (24%)
- How happy you’re feeling (24%)
- Pretending to like a gift you hate (21%)
Across the UK, people have reported telling more serious lies, such as lying about a family emergency to get out of another professional or personal commitment – one in 14 people (7%) have done this before.
And 8.9 million CVs across the UK may contain false information, with 13% admitting to lying on their CV. People aged 18-24 are the most likely to have done this, with more than one in six (17%) young people including a lie on their CV.
Psychology expert gives tips on how you can catch someone lying
With lies both big and small so prevalent in Brits’ professional and personal relationships, Dr Georgina Barnett, Counselling Psychologist at Psychology and Lifestyle, has provided five tips on how you can determine whether a person is being dishonest by their eye movements and other body language cues:
- They hold eye contact for too long.
- They squint.
- They cover or block their eyes for a few seconds.
- Their eyes dart around.
- They avoid eye contact all together.
Barnett also said: “People squint when they are uncomfortable, rub their foreheads and necks, their eyelids may flutter significantly, and a further sign is the eye block – covering their eyes for a second or closing them which is something we all do in moments of stress to block the experience for a moment. You may also see increased perspiration and flushing in the face.”
Commenting on the study, Lenstore Business Director Alex Matthews said: “Our research suggests Brits are frequently telling little white lies – lying three times a week on average – most frequently at work, but also to partners and other close relationships.
“Some of the lies we tell are innocuous, like pretending to like a gift to be polite. But one in 12 Brits have lied to their partner about being unfaithful, and more have included lies on their CV, so it’s important to know the tell-tale signs someone is being dishonest.
“Luckily, there are signals you can pick up from a person’s eyes or other facial cues to help determine if they’re being truthful or not”
