14 DAY TRIAL // The human body is a complex machinery, and so, understandably, it works in mysterious ways that we are yet to fully comprehend. For instance, we're gonna go out on a limb here and assume you had no idea that having a full bladder can make you a better liar.
It doesn't even make sense, really. However, according to a recent study in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, evidence really does show that not going to the loo in time makes people better liars than they usually are.
As part of their investigation, the research team had 22 volunteers complete a questionnaire on issues that were controversial either from a social or from a moral standpoint. Some of the study participants were then made to drink about 3 glasses of water.
About 45 minutes later, they had all the volunteers lie about issues that they had strong opinions on. Apparently, the study participants who had drank 3 glasses of water and had a full bladder did a much better job than the others.
For starters, the interviewers couldn't identify telltale signs that they were lying to them. Besides, their answers were much more elaborate than the ones documented in the case of the study participants who had no biological urge to tend to as soon as possible.
The California State University research team thinks it could be that not going to the loo in time makes people better liars because impulse and bladder control share a neural resource. Hence, activating one means activating the other.
Interestingly, Medical Express tells us another study carried out about 4 years back by a scientist at the Imperial College London showed that people with a full bladder find it easier to resist impulsive behavior.