Why People Lie in Romantic Relationships
I have attached a presentation that was done on the topic. It outlines the main ideas of this lit review. I have also attached the 8 articles that need to be cited. This draft of your lit review should: - start with the broad topic or phenomenon - explain why (supported by citations) it is important - describe previous research in the field, being sure to address research by topic, rather than organizing the paper study-by-study (there should be no transitions of \\\\\\\"and another study\\\\\\\") - provides an argument, supported by previous research, leading up to your hypothesis - when citing previous research, explains a bit of the methods and results of the study, so it is clear how the cited study fits in with what you are saying - cites a minimum of 8 articles - specifies your hypothesis
Why People Lie In Romantic Relationships
“Deception is defined as the conscious attempt to create or perpetuate false impressions among other communications” (O’Hair and Cody, 1994)
Though deception is a conscious attempt to change someone’s impression, the actual act of lying is governed more by emotion
Lying is so common place that the average person tells 1-2 lies every day
We learn how to and start
to intentionally lie when we
are around 2-3 years old
There is a double standard in regards to the use of deception: most people feel like they are doing the protecting or helping others when they lie, but then feel betrayed when others lie to them for the same reasons
Most lies are NOT told for
materialistic gain or out of greed
Most common motivation for using deception is:
à Can serve a dual purpose of maintaining another’s perceptions of you while also sparing the others feelings, especially in romantic relationships
à Complete honesty can make relationships strained by causing awkward situations, hurt feelings, and constant friction
Most lies are NOT told for
materialistic gain or out of greed
Most common motivation for using deception is:
à Can serve a dual purpose of maintaining another’s perceptions of you while also sparing the others feelings, especially in romantic relationships
à Complete honesty can make relationships strained by causing awkward situations, hurt feelings, and constant friction
Why People Lie in Romantic Relationships
Name
University
Why People Lie in Romantic Relationships
It is widely thought that honesty, trust, and sincerity with one's partner are the most important qualities of a successful relationship. Indeed, most family counselors cite confiding in each other, trust and openness toward the other partner as major factors for creating stable and conflict-free relationships (Davis & Oathout, 1987). However, research studies indicate that these principles are not practical in reality. Occasionally, people find it necessary to lie to their loved ones because being truthful will hurt the person being lied to or can be disastrous to the relationship. Deception is defined as a “a psychological process†through which a person deliberately and willingly “attempts to convince another person to accept as true what the liar knows to be false, to gain some type of benefit or to avoid loss'(Agosta, Pezzoli, & Sartori, 2013, p. 256). This situation has raised scholarly interest in better understanding the phenomenon of lying in romantic relationships.
This is an important topic to research given the fact that almost all human beings get into a relationship at one time or another. At the same time, research findings on this topic can shed light on the causes of breakups in relationships and the prevalence of divorce today. This paper hypothesizes that people engage in deception in relationships because they fear revealing their dark side, or negative aspects about their life that may anger or offend their partners and lead to termination of the relationship. The nature of deception, however, varies depending on the level of bonding and attachment in a specific relationship. For instance, deception can occur between married partners who are close to each other as well as between partners who are not close, but for different reasons. Cole (2001) argues that it is common for people to lie to their loved ones to protect them from truths that can hurt their feelings. In contrast, people in unstable relationships can lie to avoid worsening an already fragile situation (Depaul & Kashy, 1998). It is reasonable, therefore, to hypothesize that deception in a romantic relationship is inevitable. However, as the research studies indicate, what distinguishes the different situations in which deception occurs is the motive of the deceiver. Thus, some lies can be termed as being motivated by altruism, in which a person tells a lie for the best interests of the one being deceived. On the other hand, people who are concerned about their self-esteem and image will engage in deception to portray themselves in a positive light.
Deception, the tendency to create false impressions about one's self, facts, and others has been identified as one of the causes of conflicts and termination of romantic relationships (Jang, Smith, & Levine, 2002). This occurs when the person being deceived discovers the deception and takes revenge by terminating the relationship. Guthrie and Kunkel (2013) observe that people who are deceived get hurt when they realize they have been victims of lies and deception. Their trust in the other partner is destroyed, which spells the end of the relationship.
In a question-answer survey carried out by Jang, Smith and Levine (2002), most respondents identified fear of discovery as the major motivation for lying. In addition, being discovered encouraged lying as the liar was afraid of losing emotional attachment and closeness to their partners. This suggests that self-preservation is the motivation for some people in a romantic relationship to lie. Consequently, people deceive after a cost-benefit analysis of the relationship in which they conclude that lying is better than telling the truth if it means keeping the relationship intact.
People who deceive or lie to their partners are usually forced to do so by their desire to create a happy relationship by not revealing facts that can hurt their loved ones (Guthrie & Kunkel, 2013). The authors used questionnaires to get responses from 67 participants on the reasons that motivated them to lie to their partners. Most respondents said that they...