Posted December 21, 2022 | Reviewed by Ekua HaganKey points- People lie for a variety of reasons, such as to avoid receiving punishment, obtain rewards, or keep personal information secret.Misleading advertisements by car dealerships, snake-oil “medical” treatments, and cheating and infidelity in marital relationships are just a few examples of deception.A recent paper, by McArthur et al., discusses the most common lying motivations and examines the link between different motivations for lying and personality traits (e.g., extraversion, emotionality).In terms of the association between HEXACO personality facets and lying motivations, the following was found:Honesty-humility had an inverse correlation with lying frequency and the majority of lying motivations, suggesting that people high on this trait are less likely to engage in manipulation and exploitation.Lastly, there was a positive relationship between openness and engaging in “other-centered deceptive behavior for prosocial reasons.”TakeawayThe research above concluded that the most common motivations for lying are:- Altruistic reasons- Keeping personal information secret- Avoidance of being judgedIndeed, it concluded, people most often lie for altruistic reasons (e.g., to protect others from harm)."