Wiregrass Seniors Magazine November Issue NOVEMBER ISSUE | Page 17

WiregrassSeniorsMagazine.com
No Kidding! Lying Less equals
Better Health and Relationships
A new study (“Science of Honesty”) reports that
telling the truth when tempted to lie can significantly
improve a person’s mental and physical health.
The study showed that Americans average
about 11 lies per week, but that participants could
purposefully and dramatically reduce their everyday
lies. That, in turn, was associated with significantly
improved health.
Telling three fewer white lies than they did in
other weeks resulted in less feelings of tension or
melancholy and fewer sore throats and headaches.
In weeks when participants told fewer lies, they
reported that their close personal relationships
improved and that their social interactions overall went
more smoothly.
Participants said they realized they could
simply tell the truth about their daily accomplishments
rather than exaggerate, while others said they stopped
making false excuses for being late or failing to com-
plete tasks. Others said that they learned to avoid
lying by responding to a troubling question with an-
other question to distract the person.
Page 17