European Journal of Education Studies
ISSN: 2501 - 1111
ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
Volume 3 │ Issue 2 │ 2017
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.249646
REASONS FOR WHICH PEOPLE LIE:
AN EVALUATION IN THE CONTEXT OF VALUES EDUCATION
(TURKEY EXAMPLE)
Mevlüt Gündüzi
Department of Elementary Education, Faculty of Education,
Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to investigate; reasons for which people lie and explore what
they get by telling lie in the context of values education. Additionally, the study aims at
investigating whether thoughts about telling lie are varied depending on gender and
marital status. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in the study. The
study was carried out by receiving opinions of 52 teachers and 69 pre-service teachers
living in Isparta through interview forms, and data were analyzed by using content
analysis method. Reliability of the study was ensured by consulting
experts opinions
and using Miles and Huberman formula. At the end of the research, it was found out
that compared to men and singles, women and married ones stay under the influence of
lie that they tell. It is noticed that women mostly tell lie to themselves, men lie to their
wives and girlfriends, single people lie to themselves and their families and married
people lie to their partners to a large extent. When people tell lie, they pay attention to
consistency, be convincing and not to reveal the truth. Furthermore, it was concluded
that people felt guilty after lying.
Keywords: lie, liar, reasons for which people lie, value, values education
1. Introduction
Lie is a deliberate successful or unsuccessful effort of an individual without any
stimulus to create a belief that the source is not true (Vrij, 2008, 15). In order for a word
to become a lie, it is needed that individual behaves in this way willingly and
i
Correspondence: email mevlutgunduz@sdu.edu.tr
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
© 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group
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intentionally. Lie takes place in every part of our life. Regarding lie, there is no
difference between a person who says that there was a heavy traffic not to have conflict
with his boss when he is late to work and a child whose financial situation is different
from the one he tells others. However, most of the people do not approve that they lie.
"Everybody lies. Even the person who denies it, is actually a liar" (Wolk and Henley, 1970).
Lying takes place in a very wide range of disciplines such as psychology,
criminology, philosophy, sociology and communication. For this reason, it is difficult to
define lie; and many different opinions and definitions emerge as result. There are two
meanings of lie: the first; is false information uttered with the purpose of deceiving, and
the second is anything uttered to induce a wrong effect (Znakov, 1995). Zuckermen et
al. (1982, 171) defined lie as to feed someone with a belief or percept which is regarded
as lie by liar. According to this definition, giving information in a false way or
remembering something wrongly, is not regarded as lie. According to Mitchell (1986, 3),
it is a fictitious communication aimed at providing benefits for liar; for example, telling
a mother who has survived a traffic accident that all the family members are fine by
hiding the truth that they died. The main purpose here is that the woman completes the
treatment process without being affected by the situation. The lie may also be told to
provide benefits for the other side.
Ekman (1985, 26) sets two criteria by distinguishing lie from other types of
deceiving. The first of these is the intention of the person who lied. That is, the person
who lied will knowingly and intentionally give false information to the person. The
other criterion is that the person who lied does not know that he is lying. Bok (1978)
argued that lying and fooling are different terms in his book on lies. He stated that a
message used to deceive must be expressed in verbal, written or symbolic form so that
it can be regarded as a lie. That is to say, compared to lie, fooling is in a broader
category than lying.
According to Vrij (2008, 15), when a person intends to lie, he is unwittingly lying,
even if the content is correct. When a person lies, even if it is not proven or even if he
gives true information by chance; he is still regarded as he lied, because he intended to
do so.
DePaulo (1996, 703), come up with a different point of view by dividing lies into
three categories as outright lies (total falsehoods), exaggerations and subtle lies.
Outright lies are telling exactly the opposite of true information; for example, a healthy
person fakes being sick not to attend an event he has been invited. Subtle lie is a kind of
way hiding truth. A man, deceiving his wife, defends himself and hides his deceit with
another woman by saying "I did not deceive you with that woman." Exaggerations are
overstatements of truths; for example, a sick child, by exaggerating his illness, says that
he is worse than actually he is, because he is expecting more attention from his mother.
Albert Vrij listed the characteristics of the good liars as follows (Vrij, 2010, 8):
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Not to feel guilty while lying
Not to show signs of having trouble when lying
To have self-confidence
Intelligence
To have a good memory, to remember the lies he has told
These traits can be regarded as the most distinctive features that distinguish
good liars from bad ones (Akçay, 2012, 237): Riggio and colleagues found out positive
relation between being extroverted and successful in lying in their study, analyzes the
relationship between communication skills and telling lie (Riggio and Friedman, 1983;
Riggio, Tucker and Throckmarton, 1987). Moreover, these studies reveal that
individuals who are socially competent, thoughtful, extrovert and have developed selfexpression skills, are regarded as more believable and convincing (Seçil Yeter, 2008, 20).
1.1 Motivations behind Telling Lies
Identifying and having knowledge of motivations behind telling lies have a great
importance for the studies done to determine why people lie. Lindskol and Walters
(1983) identified six different categories in their study:
Rescuing someone from harm and shame.
Protecting him/herself or someone else from punishment or disapproval,
To influence officers for his/her earnings,
To show him/herself better or to protect a gain,
To persuade others to do something for our own benefit,
To hurt someone for personal gain.
Hample (1980), identified motives that cause lies under four headings. These are;
to benefit him/herself, to benefits others, to provide benefits for relationships, and other
various motives. De Poulo, Kashy, Kirkendol and Wyer (1996) sub-divided motives into
two as self-directed motives and the ones that directed to others. Self-directed
motivation refers to the gains of a person him/herself. These gains may be material
gains or avoiding any punishment. The motivations behind telling lies for someone are
as follows; to prevent a person from being upset, to save him from a bad situation or to
benefit him. As an example for this kind of motives: Saying a friend, who failed in
contest that s/he will succeed in another one. It's a lie told to prevent the other side from
being upset.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this research is to examine lying in the context of values education by
revealing the causes and gains of lying. For this objective, answers for the following
questions were sought:
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1.3 Sub-Objectives
Do peoples thoughts about lying vary depending on gender?
Do peoples thoughts about lying vary depending on marital status?
What do people gain by lying?
What do you pay attention to when you lie?
What are the lies that you tell mostly to opposite sex?
In what ways do you show yourself more differently than actually you are?
2. Method
2.1 Research Design
This research is a descriptive study in which data are gathered through a questionnaire
consisting of closed-ended and open-ended questions. Descriptive studies, as the name
suggests, are carried out to describe the characteristics of the phenomena studied (Borg,
Gall and Gall, 1993).
In this study, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The
quantitative part is based on the scanning model and in descriptive quality; and the
qualitative part is based on case study. Scanning models are based on presenting the
existing situation in its own way of existence and an objective manner (Karasar, 1999).
In case study, the basic idea is to investigate an event in a detailed way by an
appropriate method Yıldırım and Şimşek,
. In this study, the factors related to the
situation have been discussed with an holistic approach and it has been tried to
determine how they are influenced by the related situation.
2.2 Participants
The research was conducted with the participation of 121 people, 52 teachers and 69
pre-service teachers living in Isparta. Since the universe is so large, 121 people were
sampled. The demographical information of participants is given below.
Table 1: Demographical information of participants
Gender
Male
39
Female
82
Marital Status
Married
49
Single
72
2.3 Data Collection
Qualitative data were collected through an interview form consisting of 4 open-ended
questions, and quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire of 8 closeended questions. The reason that semi-structured interview technique was used in this
study is, it is more appropriate in educational science researches because it has certain
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level of standard and also flexibility at the same time (Ekiz, 2003). In the process of
preparation of the form, the relevant literature was firstly reviewed and interview
questions were revealed by using the information gathered. Reliability is a hard and an
important issue in qualitative studies, because it can be difficult to present data in
numerical ways as can be done in quantitative studies. Thus, to increase reliability,
strategy, used in the study, was clearly shown and it is anticipated that it will allow
other researchers to use the strategy in a similar way (Silverman, 2000, Yildirim and
Simsek, 2011). External reliability of the research was ensured by reporting the steps
that the researchers have followed, clearly and in a detailed way; and by showing the
results through the researcher s point of view to convince readers and by presenting the
some of the results as they were collected, the internal reliability were increased to a
great extent (Türnüklü, 2001; Robson, 1999). In order to ensure the reliability of the
study, experts opinions were consulted and the formula of Miles and Huberman
(1994) (Reliability = agreements / agreements + disagreements) was used. The reliability
coefficient found in this study is 91%.
2.4 Data Analysis
Quantitative data were interpreted using values such as frequency and percentage. The
resulting data were compared and analyzed. The qualitative part of the data were
analyzed using descriptive analysis technique, which has an important place in
qualitative research techniques. ‚s Yıldırım and Şimşek
have described,
descriptive analysis takes place in four steps:
Framework for data analysis was set through research questions and dimensions
on interview forms and / or observation.
Data was read, processed and organized according to this framework. In this
step, data were chosen in order to identify, and they were gathered together in a
meaningful and logical way. Additionally, in this process direct citations were
chosen to be used when reporting results.
Findings and organized data were identified and supported with direct
quotations where necessary.
Findings were interpreted. Cause and effect relationship between findings were
explained.
3. Findings
The following findings were arrived at as result of analysis of the data obtained from
the interview forms made in order to reveal the reasons for which people lie and their
perceptions of lying.
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A. Findings for the First Sub-Objective Do peoples thoughts about lying vary
depending on gender?)
Table 2: Distribution of thoughts about lying according to gender
Questions
Female
Male
Questions
Female
Male
Are you influenced
by lies you tell?
Frequency
Frequency
How do you feel when
you lie?
Frequency
Frequency
Guilt
Shame
Happiness
Loneliness
Why do you think a
person needs to lie?
53
25
2
2
Frequency
19
13
3
4
Frequency
Yes, I do
No, I don t
Do you lie?
47
35
Frequency
17
22
Frequency
Never
Sometimes
3
53
4
20
Exclusion
Fear
2
27
11
If need be
Frequently
In any case
24
1
1
10
4
1
Punishment
Loss
Mediating
Making things happen
4
14
18
17
4
11
1
12
To whom you lie
most?
To myself
To my mother
To my father
Frequency
Frequency
16
13
9
6
2
6
To my sibling
To my teacher
To my friend
2
2
14
1
4
To a person that I
dont know
To my spouse
11
7
15
13
What do you lie
about most?
Love
Money
Sex
Lessons
Work
Frequency
Frequency
22
32
1
13
9
12
10
14
8
Would you lie for the
benefit of someone?
Yes
No
Frequency
Do you detect that
someone lies to you?
Yes
No
Frequency
72
10
55
27
Frequency
24
15
Frequency
28
11
According to Table 2 above, women are more affected by the lies they tell than men.
The lie was so settled in our daily lives that most of women and men said that they
often resort to lie when they are in a difficult situation. According to DePaulo, Kashy
and colleagues (1996, 980), women are closer to those who interact than men. For this
reason, they tend to lie less, but they are more inclined to tell white lies when they are
in an environment that requires courtesy. Women lie mostly to themselves, whereas
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men lie more to their wives and their loved ones. Hiding the financial situation, or
showing it differently than it is, have become acts that people do all the time. It is also
seen in the table that women and men lie mostly about money. However, Dreber and
Johannesson (2008, 198) have identified that men are more likely to lie in order to
protect their financial interests. Lying is an immoral and socially bad behavior, but even
though they are aware of their acts, people often lie and feel guilty after that. Women lie
mostly when they are frightened and to mediate. Men, on the other hand, tell lies to
make things happen. DePoulo, Kashy et al. (1996, 980) found that women tell more lies
about others, while men tell more lies that centralize themselves. The majority of
women and men stated that they realize that the other side lies to them. Saka (1981) in
his study reached the conclusion that women are more likely to realize that other side
lies to them, regardless of the sex of the person who lied.
B. Findings for the Second Sub-Objective Do peoples thoughts about lying vary
depending on marital status?)
Table 3: Thoughts about lying according to marital status
Questions
Are you influenced
by lies you tell?
Yes, I do
No, I dont
Single
Frequency
Married
Frequency
42
30
22
27
Questions
How do you feel when
you lie?
Guilt
Shame
Single
Frequency
45
23
27
15
3
2
Happiness
Do you lie?
Frequency
Never
Frequency
Loneliness
Why do you think a
person needs to lie?
Exclusion
5
2
Sometimes
If need be
46
19
27
15
Frequently
In any case
1
1
4
1
Loss
Mediating
Making things happen
Would you lie for the
benefit of someone?
Yes
No
To whom you lie
most?
Frequency
Frequency
To myself
To my mother
To my father
To my sibling
To my teacher
18
11
14
2
3
4
4
1
-
To my friend
To a person that I
don t know
To my spouse
13
9
5
9
2
26
Fear
Punishment
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Married
Frequency
1
Frequency
5
Frequency
1
1
24
7
14
1
14
14
2
Frequency
11
5
17
Frequency
59
13
37
12
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What do you lie
about most?
Love
Money
Sex
Lessons
Work
Frequency
29
15
1
19
8
Frequency
2
29
4
14
Do you detect that
someone lies to you?
Yes
No
Frequency
Frequency
52
20
31
18
According to table 3 above, single people are more influenced by lies they tell than
married ones. We can say that most people lie in difficult situations regardless of being
married or single. Üretmen (2008, 32) has said that lie is not viewed as an unwanted or
extraordinary phenomena but as part of the daily social interaction process. This shows
the place of lie in our daily lives and that every human being resorts to it. Single people
are most likely to lie to themselves and their family, while married people lie to their
spouses to a large extent. Cole (2002), in his study, investigated how often couples lie.
At the end of the research, it was found that people who had fear of attachment lied
more to their spouses or loved ones. High school and college students were asked how
often they lied to their families. As a result, it was revealed that they often lie to their
families in order to gain their freedom (Jensen et al., 2004, 101). Additionally, we can
say that, while single people lie mostly about love and relationship matters, married
people tell lies to show their financial situations differently than they are or to protect
their financial interests. Single and married people feel guilty after lying. Single people
lie mostly when they are afraid, while married people lie to make things happen.
Married and single people stated that they can realize that they are being lied, to a large
extent.
C. Findings for the Third Sub-Objective (What do people gain by lying?)
Table 4: Gains from lying
Features
Frequency
Percentage
Interest
Esteem
Nothing
30
5
37
27,03
4,5
33,3
I don t have any idea
What they want
Distrust
Satisfaction
Sin
Success
1
12
8
9
3
1
0,9
10,8
7,2
8,1
2,7
0,9
4
1
3,6
0,9
Money
I don't know
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‚s a result of the survey and as seen in Table , people gave the answer as they do not
get anything f = ) and as they gain some interests f = 30) to the question of what
people would get by lying. People want to present themselves well and positively to
others (Tedeschi and Lindskol, 1976). De Poulo et al. (1996) sub-divided the motivation
behind lying into two as self-directed motives and motives that directed towards others.
When we look at all the results on the table, it turns out that people lie mostly because
of the motives related to themselves. For example, they lie to feel good temporarily, to
meet the needs of others' approval, to try to provide benefits, to gain respect, to earn
money, to get success.
D. Findings for the Fourth Sub-Objective (What do you pay attention to when you lie?)
Table 5: Points to consider when lying
Feature
Frequency
Percentage
Feature
Frequency
Percentage
Not to exaggerate
Not to be unkind
5
2
5
2
To be convincing
Spiritual dimension of
it
13
1
13
1
To look addressee in the
eyes
Nothing
That it is not be revealed
Not to harm anybody
5
5
To pull through
2
2
8
1
3
8
1
3
Not to hesitate
All details
Not to forget previous
lie
To hide my facial
expressions
To be logical
To avoid blushing
1
1
1
1
1
1
Not to forget it
1
1
1
1
Mimics
Not to give clues about it
unwillingly
That it is not an
important issue
To be determined
2
16
2
16
1
1
1
1
6
6
To avoid trembling
1
1
3
3
Not to get anxious
1
1
Not to harm anybody
other than me
To be consistent
Tone of voice
6
6
1
1
14
2
14
2
Not to make very long
sentences
Not to laugh
1
1
As seen in Table 5, when they lie, people pay attention to not to give clues about it (f =
16), be consistent (f = 14) and convincing (f = 13). According to these results, after lying,
people try to hide their lies and not to be realized by others. Researchers suggested that
facial expressions and verbal cues are more controllable than tone of voice and body
movements (Generator, 2008: 7). In their study, Ekman and Friesen (1969, 1974)
described behavioral cues of lie in two ways, as leaking hints and tricking hints. The
details that people pay attention to when they lie and the ability to lie are different
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things. In this case, educational and life experiences of individuals, parents' attitude,
cultural level, school, their close relationships and random acquaintances have
important role to play in (Ekman, 1999, 272).
E. Findings for the Fifth Sub-Objective (What are the lies that you tell most to opposite
sex?)
Table 6: Lies told to opposite sex
Feature
Frequency
Percentage
I am studying
I am working a lot
I don t wander a lot
3
3
1
3,7
3,7
1,2
I don t remember
1
I quit smoking
Physical appearance
Feature
Frequency
Percentage
You are so beautiful
I am happy
I am single
4
2
1
4,9
2,4
1,2
1,2
I
don t
know
anything about it
1
1,2
1
2
1,2
2,4
I never lie
You are like my son
1
1
1,2
1,2
I love you
I don t see my dad
3
1
3,7
1,2
I protect my honor
I am so meticulous
1
1
1,2
1,2
I am at home
You are so kid
I haven t seen anything, I
don t know
I don t have any money
You are a good person
3
1
1
3,7
1,2
1,2
You are sexy
I am honest
I am sick
1
1
1
1,2
1,2
1,2
7
2
8,5
2,4
I was busy
Your hair is so nice
2
1
2,4
1,2
I have a boy/girlfriend
You look very good
I haven t had relationship
with anyone
I am busy
About my private life
You are the first in my life
3
2
1
3,7
2,4
1,2
I see
It is not your fault
It costs that much
1
1
2
1,2
1,2
2,4
5
1
3
6,1
1,2
3,7
I promise
You are wonderful
You have a very
kind heart
1
1
1
1,2
1,2
1,2
You are the one
1
1,2
1
1,2
I am in/at (somewhere)
1
1,2
I hadn t thought in
this way
I wondered
1
1,2
I haven t seen your call
I trust you
3
1
3,7
1,2
1
2
1,2
2,4
My spouse s decisions are
worth than mine
1
1,2
I dont love you
It will be ready in 5
minutes
You are so special
1
1,2
‚ccording to table above, the primary lies that are mostly told to opposite sex I don t
have any money f = and I am busy f = . We can conclude that most of the people
do not want to spend money for opposite sex and try to show their financial situation
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less than actually it is. Dreber and Johannesson (2008, 198) stated that men are more
likely to lie in order to protect their financial interests. In addition, I am busy is main
lie of the people who don t pay loving attention to spouses and partners, to defend
themselves; and in this way, by attributing his/her lack of interest to his/her work load,
he thinks he will have less problems in his emotional relationship. DePaulo and Kashy
(1998) found that as the duration of a relationship lengthens, the proportion of the lie
that was told also increased. Cole (2002) conducted a study on the reasons why are lies
told in romantic relations. According to this study, people tell lie in romantic
relationships for the reasons of recompense, avoidance of punishment and differences
in their need for attachment.
F. Findings for the Sixth Sub-Objective (In what ways do you show yourself more
differently than actually you are?)
Table 7: The ways in which participants show themselves more differently than they are
Feature
Frequency
Percentage
(%)
Feature
Frequency
Percentage
(%)
On none of the issues
Tidying up the house
On my relationship
issues
6
1
3
7,9
1,3
3,9
Weakness
Showing-off
Trust
2
8
4
2,6
10,5
5,3
Success
When I am angry
1
1
1,3
1,3
About family
Creed
1
2
1,3
2,6
About job
When I am in
strange situation
Character
Happiness
4
2
5,3
2,6
Honesty
In every respect
10
1
13,2
1,3
2
5
2,6
6,6
Cleanliness
Being homely
1
1
1,3
1,3
My thoughts
2
2,6
On educational matters
1
1,3
Physcial appearance
2
2,6
1
1,3
Pretending
strong
be
4
5,3
Pretending
to
be
understanding
Pretending to be hotheaded
1
1,3
Pretending to be more
intelligent
3
3,9
Patience
1
1,3
On emotional matters
4
5,3
On matters that need
skills
1
1,3
Health
1
1,3
to
a
According to table 7 above, people show themselves more differently than they are on
honesty (f = 10) and showing-off (f = 8). Especially in childhood and adolescence,
because of the lack of self-confidence and the gap in the formation of their characteristic
traits, individuals try to show themselves in a way that they want to be or dream.
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Adolescents see themselves as worthless when they are not aware of their potential,
talents and values. They can be identified as low self-confidence and lack of self-esteem.
These lead him/her to self-embarrassment, and they lie not to feel humiliated, so they
present themselves differently from what they are (Rays, 2000, 656).
4. Conclusion and Discussion
This research was conducted to examine people's reasons for lying in the context of
values education and to investigate whether people's thoughts of lying vary depending
on marital status or gender. As a result of the research, it was revealed that compared to
men and married people, women and singles are more influenced by the lies they tell. It
also emerged that women mostly lie to themselves, and men lie to their wives and their
loved ones. When the case was examined depending on the marital status, it was
revealed that single people lie mostly to themselves and their families; and married
people lie to their spouses to a large extent. It was reported that those who regarded
their relationship as warm, continuous, and satisfying lie less to themselves and in total
(Kashy and DePaulo, 1996). Single people lie mostly about love and relationship
whereas married people lie in financial matters. Even when men and women are
analyzed separately, we have the same conclusion that both group lie mostly in
financial matters.
At the end of the research, and as DePoulo, Kashy et al. (1996, 980) also stated, it
was once again revealed that women tell lie more about others, and men lie mostly by
placing themselves in the center. While the majority of people say they do not get
anything by lying, the other majority lie to gain benefits. So, they are more likely to lie
because of self-directed motives. Lindskol and Walters (1983) tried to find out why
people lie in their study. They collected the results they found under six items. These
are to save others from harm and shame; protect yourself or someone else from
punishment or disapproval; to influence officers for their own benefit, to show
themselves better or to protect a gain; persuade others to do something for our benefit;
to hurt someone for personal gain.
When people lie, they pay attention not to give clues about it, to be consistent,
and that the lie they tell is convincing. Ekman and Friesen (1969) revealed in their
studies that the face expressions, body movements and tone of voice of liars give them
away. Thus, people try to hide their lies by trying to reduce these leakages of clues. The
most frequently told lies to opposite sex are about financial matters and being busy. By
lying, they show themselves differently in terms of honesty and showing-off. People
want to present themselves well and in a positive way to others (Tedeschi and Lindskol,
1976).
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REASONS FOR WHICH PEOPLE LIE: AN EVALUATION IN THE CONTEXT OF
VALUES EDUCATION (TURKEY EXAMPLE)
In general terms, lie is in every part of our lives. The research revealed that all
people mostly lie in their daily lives regardless of their marital status and gender. Wolk
and Henley (1970) stated that everyone lies and the one who denies it, is the worst liar.
People start to lie verbally or non-verbally from birth. For example, a child who cries to
have his mother do what he wants to do, as time passes he lies to avoid anger of his
parents; and during adolescence he lies because of his lack self-confidence and to gain
social status. In this way, we learn to lie from birth. It is necessary to inform and teach
the concept of lying to children in the context of values education and moral
development. Russell says that the time of starting moral education is the moment of
birth (1984, in Dilmaç, 1999, 3). First of all, mothers and fathers should not introduce
them to different types of lies. It should not be forgotten that child takes his mother and
father as example at first.
In the study, it was found that even though most of the people lie, they often
regret after lying and feel guilty. Thus, it can be inferred that people learn the concept of
lie in the context of moral education but, after that they still lie. However, the moral
dimension of telling lie causes them to feel guilty. Moreover, people state that they do
not plan the lies they tell, they just spend little cognitive effort when they lie, and they
feel a little bit sadness but later, they don t worry about being realized of their lies,
neither they feel guilty or regret (DePaulo and Kashy, 1998, DePaulo et al., 1996, Kashy
and DePaulo, 1996).
It is expected that this study will bring a different perspective to the issues as;
reasons and gains of lying, and how thoughts are varied depending on marital status
and gender and will shed light for further researches.
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VALUES EDUCATION (TURKEY EXAMPLE)
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