Everyday Lying Test (LiES)
Hart et al. 2019 · 14 items · how often do you lie, and why?
Almost everyone lies sometimes, but the reasons differ a lot: some lies keep relationships smooth and protect other people's feelings, while others are aimed at hurting, punishing, or amusing yourself at someone's expense. This 14-item test measures your everyday lying tendency and separates the two patterns: relational lying (the peacekeeping white lies) and antisocial lying (instrumental, other-harming deception). About 4 minutes. A research scale, not a diagnostic tool.
How often do you lie, and why?\n\nLying is one of those things everyone does and almost no one admits to doing often. Research puts the average adult at one or two lies a day, most of them harmless. The thing is: lying itself is not the problem. The pattern is.\n\nHart, Jones, Terrizzi and Curtis (2019) trimmed a 45-item pool down to 14 items, and factor analysis recovered two stable dimensions. Relational lying keeps relationships smooth — dodging conflict, hiding mistakes, sparing feelings. It's by far the most common kind; the norm sample averages 3.79 per item on a 7-point scale. Antisocial lying uses deception as a weapon — revenge, attacks, punishment, or plain thrill. It's much rarer, averaging 1.90 per item.\n\n### Reading your results\n\n- High relational: you've learned to lie for peace. It protects relationships, and it quietly swallows your honest opinions.\n- High antisocial: you lie to harm or for kicks. In the research, this pattern is associated with pathological lying and high Machiavellianism.\n- High on both: deception is your all-purpose tool. It works short-term and erodes trust long-term.\n- Low on both: you rarely dress up the truth, whether for peace or for gain.\n\nThe scale was validated against actual behavior: people who scored higher also reported more real lies over a 24-hour period. It also correlates negatively with social desirability — if you feel tempted to answer in a flattering way, that impulse itself is a data point.\n\nThis test is for education and self-exploration only; it is not a diagnostic instrument.
Result Interpretation
After completing the 14 questions, you'll receive an immediate, detailed report with:
- Your score — calculated automatically based on your responses
- Score interpretation — what your score means in practical terms
- Dimension breakdown — separate scores for each sub-scale
- Context — how your results compare to general population norms where available
All results are displayed on screen. No account or login needed.