WORT 89.9FM Madison · The Psychology Of Lying

In politics, boldfaced lies are the new normal.  According to the Washington Post, during his four years as President, Donald Trump uttered a total of over 30,000 demonstrable falsehoods — that’s 21 lies a day.  Newly elected New York 3rd District congressman George Santos may eclipse his Republican mentor for mendacity.  Santos has certainly told some whoppers.  He lied about being Jewish, attending prep school, graduating from Baruch College, working for Goldman Sachs, founding a charity for dogs and cats and that he lost four employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.  Sadly, reporters didn’t catch on to his prevarications until after the election.  Timothy Levine is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Communication Studies at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.  He has built a career on the study of deception, and is author of the book “Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception.”

Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here