Being Honest Can Improve Your Health
October 04, 2014
Story at-a-glance
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People who told only the truth for five weeks had an average
of seven fewer symptoms, such as sore throats, headaches,
nausea, and mental tension, than the control group
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The average person lies about 11 times a day, and will slip
in at least two dishonesties in a 10-minute conversation
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Honesty really is the best policy, and you can take the
five-week sincerity challenge to see if it makes a
difference in your health and well-being
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If you find lying has become a habit, you can break it by
prominently displaying your new moral code: honesty is the
best policy; people reminded of moral codes tend to lie less
By Dr. Mercola
The average person lies about 11 times a day, and will slip
in at least two dishonesties in a 10-minute conversation,
according to lying expert Robert Feldman.1
New research suggests that this widespread insincerity is
taking a toll on more than just your good reputation and, in
fact, may play a significant role in your health. What’s more,
you may be able to lower your risk of sore throats, colds, and
headaches just by learning to tell the truth.
The Power of Sincerity for Your Health
Part of Sigmund Freud’s 1904 Fundamental Rule of
Psychoanalysis was that complete honesty was required from
patients for their cure.2
He may have been on to something, as evidenced by research
presented at the 2014 national convention of the American
Psychological Association.
The study, which was carried out by two University of Notre
Dame professionals as part of their “Science of Honesty”
project, followed 72 adults for five weeks. The participants
were broken into two groups, a control group and a sincerity
group that was told to speak only the truth. Members of the
sincerity group were told:3
“Throughout every day of the next 5 weeks, you must
speak honestly, truthfully, and sincerely—not only about the
big things, but also about the small things, such as why you
were late.
You must always mean what you say in situations where
your statements are to be taken seriously, as opposed to
when joking or obviously exaggerating. While you certainly
can choose not to answer questions, you must always mean
what you say.”
By the end of the study, significant health differences were
reported among the two groups. Those in the sincerity group had
an average of seven fewer symptoms, such as sore throats,
headaches, nausea, and mental tension, than the control group.
One of the study’s authors, psychology professor Anita Kelly,
Ph.D, has been following the instructions too, and said that
while she normally gets five to seven colds a winter, she had so
far had none, despite the fact that she’d also been getting less
sleep. As Forbes put it:4
“Perhaps all of that lying causes a continual level
of psychosomatic stress that handicaps our immune system.”
Why Do People Lie So Much?
Honesty is often reported as one of the most desirable traits
in a person. Yet, most people lie on a daily basis, from small
“white” lies to more serious offenses. As for why people lie, it
depends. Research by Feldman found that people lie almost as a
matter of reflex and most may not even realize they’ve done it.
In one study, all the participants said they had been
truthful in their recorded conversations, but when the video was
played back, 60 percent of the participants had not been
truthful (and were reportedly “genuinely surprised” that they
had said something inaccurate).5
Feldman found that men tend to lie to make themselves look
better while women tend to lie to boost another person’s
feelings. And extroverts, in general, tend to lie more
frequently than introverts.
Separate research from the University of Alberta revealed
that people have an easier time lying to their co-workers than
to strangers, especially when it comes to protecting their
self-worth or self-esteem. Jennifer Argo of the University of
Alberta explained:6
“…people appear to be short-term focused when they
decide to deceive someone—save my self-image and self-worth
now, but later on if the deceived individual finds out it
can have long-term consequences.”
Five ‘Versions of the Truth’ That are Really Lies
It makes sense that lying would negatively impact your health
and emotional well-being, as
negative
thoughts of all kinds have been shown to do just that. In
the case of lying, however, many people do it without even
thinking about it, which means, in order to protect your health,
you’ve first got to identify what constitutes a lie. Here are
five examples that might surprise you, as reported by
Psychology Today.7
- Controlling a Response: Let’s say
you’re telling a friend about an argument you had with your
spouse. If you shade the truth by only telling your side of
the story, or altering the way in which you actually behaved
to reflect more favorably on yourself, it’s lying. You are,
in fact, altering or controlling your friend’s response,
perhaps to get them to say what you want to hear.
- Lying by Omission: Intentionally
leaving out significant or relevant details is a form of
lying and will not promote mutual trust or honest
communication.
- Exaggerations: Embellishing on your
resume, exaggerating your skills, or inflating events when
you tell a story are all examples of lies that will
eventually deem you untrustworthy.
- Self-Protection: This is a form of
lying in which you put a guard up so as to feel less
vulnerable and avoid getting hurt. It often involves
downplaying your emotions or pretending you’re not
interested or involved in order to protect yourself.
- Gossip or Covert Communication: If you
talk about someone behind their back, it will usually
involve lying at some point (often by denying the gossip to
the person being gossiped about). It’s better to only engage
in open, honest communications that you don’t feel you have
to cover up after the fact.
If Your Doctor Lies It Can Impact Your Health, Too
While telling lies may negatively impact your health, so too
can being lied to – especially when you’re lied to by
your physician. The Charter on Medical Professionalism, which is
endorsed by more than 100 professional groups worldwide,
"requires openness and honesty in physicians' communication with
patients."
Yet, when a study in Health Affairs presented data
from a survey of nearly 1,900 physicians to see how well they
follow this principle… the results were less than impressive, to
put it mildly:8
- One-third of physicians did not completely agree with
disclosing serious medical errors to patients
- One-fifth did not completely agree that physicians
should never tell a patient something untrue
- Forty percent believed that they should hide their
financial relationships with drug and device companies to
patients
- Ten percent said they had told patients something untrue
in the previous year
While most of the physicians surveyed did agree that they
should "fully inform patients about the risks and benefits of
interventions" as well as "never disclose confidential
information to unauthorized persons," in their entirety the
findings cast serious doubt about the trustworthiness of the
doctor-patient relationship. As the researchers stated:
"Our findings raise concerns that some patients might
not receive complete and accurate information from their
physicians, and doubts about whether patient-centered care
is broadly possible without more widespread physician
endorsement of the core communication principles of openness
and honesty with patients."
Research suggests that
10 percent of doctors lie to their patients, sometimes
exaggerating health results (or sugarcoating prognoses), or
keeping slightly abnormal results from their patients. Still,
even if well intentioned, health care is not an area where
people want fibs and half-truths. In fact, most people would
rather hear the truth in just about any situation… Not to
mention, being fully informed is an essential part of taking
control of your health… TIME reported:9
"…as well-intentioned as their fibs may be, other
studies consistently show that patients prefer the truth,
and would rather hear harsh news than remain ignorant about
a dire medical condition. Being fully informed is a way that
patients can cope and prepare for whatever might occur."
Even Small Incentives May Trigger Dishonesty
You might be surprised, but there is compelling research that
supports that about 98% of us lie because we can rationalize it
as insignificant. In a test of college students who were
entrusted to record their own test scores, researchers found the
students were more likely to lie about their scores if the money
reward was only 50 cents, as opposed to $10. This is likely
because while people want to maximize their own reward, they
also want to feel like they are good people. Lying and reaping
just another 50 cents or 1 dollar seems like just a small “white
lie,” whereas doing it for a bigger sum, like $10 or more, seems
more dishonest.
Study author Dan Ariely wrote:
“We tend to think that people are either honest or
dishonest… But that is not how dishonesty works. Over the
past decade or so, my colleagues and I have taken a close
look at why people cheat, using a variety of experiments and
looking at a panoply of unique data sets—from insurance
claims to employment histories to the treatment records of
doctors and dentists.
What we have found, in a nutshell: Everybody has the
capacity to be dishonest, and almost everybody cheats—just
by a little. Except for a few outliers at the top and
bottom, the behavior of almost everyone is driven by two
opposing motivations. On the one hand, we want to benefit
from cheating and get as much money and glory as possible;
on the other hand, we want to view ourselves as honest,
honorable people. Sadly, it is this kind of small-scale mass
cheating, not the high-profile cases, that is most corrosive
to society.”
Protect Your Health by Being Honest
Honesty really is the best policy, and you can take the
five-week sincerity challenge to see if it makes a difference in
your health and well-being. If you find lying has
become a habit, you can break it by prominently displaying your
new moral code: honesty is the best policy. In the study of
college students mentioned above, the perception of a moral code
is what stopped people from cheating. When researchers reminded
students of moral codes in connection with the tests, for
instance reminding students of the schools’ moral code prior to
testing, no cheating occurred.
The same thing happened when participants were asked to swear
on a Bible -- no cheating occurred (even among self-declared
atheists in the group). Anita Kelly, whose study revealed being
sincere has real health advantages, recommends going easy on
yourself at first. You’re bound to have slip-ups, but when that
happens simply correct what you’ve said. As she said, “being
sincere is a process and you will get there with practice.” When
you do, you’re likely to experience profound benefits. She
continued:10
“Being sincere brings you closer to the decent people
you know, pushes away the naysayers, and allows you to feel
a certain hopefulness about the world. To the extent that
you experience these, I believe you too will have profound
health benefits.”
Copyright 1997- 2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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