Lying More Frequent Under Time Pressure

Building on previous studies on the factors that make people deceptive, dishonest and liars, researchers at the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, were recently able to discover that putting test subjects under time pressure made them more likely to lie, if financial decisions were involved.

Generally, without an opportunity to rationalize their deceptive behavior, people are not likely to lie. However, when time (or lack thereof) becomes a factor, the need to justify one's actions to oneself disappears, and lies occur more frequently.

“When people act quickly, they may attempt to do all they can to secure a profit—including bending ethical rules and lying. Having more time to deliberate leads people to restrict the amount of lying and refrain from cheating,” the research team says.

The work was led by University of Amsterdam psychologist, Dr. Shaul Shalvi, PsychCentral reports.