9 Lies You've Probably Told

Knowing why we fib helps us choose when to do it and when not to.

Posted June 2, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley

Jamie bought a bench for a home gym that he'd seen loads of influencers use. When he got it, he hated it. Small details about it made it not work for him. He scratched his head and didn't understand what all the hype was about.

Since the brand was trendy, he knew it would sell fast on Facebook Marketplace. He listed it, and it was snapped up. When the buyer came to get it, they asked why he was selling it. Sheepishly, he made something up.

Lies are very human. Here, we'll explore common patterns and then walk through the surprising psychological dynamics involved in lying .

Relatable Patterns of Lies We Tell and Are Told

You Got Something on Sale When You Paid Full Price

Your running friend notices you wearing pricey new running sneakers. You tell them you got them on sale. You paid full price, but you felt embarrassed about buying racing sneakers, given the slow pace you run at.

Your Reasons for Selling Something

You're selling something because it's uncomfortable, ugly, or has some type of flaw or missing feature. But you say you're moving, you just decided randomly to buy a new one, it was a duplicate gift, or it doesn't fit in a new space.

You claim that your alarm didn't go off when you suspect you didn't even set it.

You Did Something You Didn't

Tech blame often overlaps with this category, but there are plenty of other examples.

You Liked Something You Didn't

When people claim less effort than they really put in.

What's the Point of This Post?

This post is mostly intended as an amusing reflection on how we're all more similar than we recognize.

But recognition also tends to stir up some reflection.

Without anticipating possible scenarios, we often make on-the-spot decisions to lie, as Jamie did in the initial example.

When ordinary people realize they lie more than they thought they did, it's worth recognizing how easy it can be for someone to slip into a pattern of heavy lying under the right psychological circumstances—for example, if gambling or another type of debt triggers much deeper shame than the burnt cookies.

What Do You Want Your Relationship With These Lies to Be?

There isn't a right answer here, and your answer will likely vary according to category.

For some of the categories listed above, you might want to stop feeling imaginary or real pressure to tell the lie. Perhaps you want to be more honest and less defensive about your flaws. You might decide you'd like to non-defensively admit small mistakes more easily.

There are social norms that govern recognition of a probable lie, where it's social custom not to call out a lie or get overly mad about it. Everyone knows what's up. Everyone knows that when someone says their alarm didn't go off, the person just probably didn't set it correctly. Perhaps you know the subtext of telling someone you like their tattoo isn't that you like it at all. You're just supporting their doing what they want. How do you feel about that?

The Complex Interplay Between Outward and Inward Lies

We tell self-protective lies outwardly that we have a strange relationship with inwardly. For example, we know we were a few minutes late taking the cookies out, but the lie tries to erase that fact for ourselves and others. This is not that different psychologically than someone who is, say, lying to investors when they already know that their product probably doesn't work. The harm and consequences are vastly different. But it's the same psychological trick where the lie does something internally when we tell it externally, even when we're at least mostly aware that what we're saying is not true.

The Psychology of Minor Lies Is More Complex Than Avoiding Hurting Others' Feelings

You're probably aware of when you're lying to avoid hurting someone's feelings. As we've seen here, minor lies serve a much wider variety of psychological purposes. The more conscious we are of that, the more mindfully we can choose when we might fib and when we won't, and enjoy the amusing aspects of this very human tendency.

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Alice Boyes, Ph.D., translates principles from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and social psychology into tips people can use in their everyday lives.

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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.