12 Types of Lies and Deception

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12 Types of Lies and Deception

 

“Everyone has a right to their own opinion,
but not to their own facts.”

—Ricky Gervais

Abusive people often lie or use any of a dozen methods of distorting the truth to meet their self-centered objectives. Sometimes the liar is a friend, family member, co-worker, boss, person in power, or romantic partner. 

 

What's in This Post

Why do people lie?
Example of a Master Liar
12 Types of Lies and Deceptions
What it Looks Like When a Liar Lies
Books About Partner Abuse

 

Why do people lie?

Lies and deceptions may be used by an abusive person to:
  • cover their tracks,
  • create an illusion,
  • distract from reality,
  • make themself look good or someone else look bad,
  • garner sympathy or advantage, 
  • alter another person's perception of the situation, or
  • to give false impressions to other people about themself or someone else.

Distortions of the truth may also be used as a source of fun. Some people enjoy the game of pulling the wool over other people’s eyes. Not telling the truth makes them feel powerful. It’s exhilarating.

 

Why do people lie infographic

 

 

Example of a Master Liar

This man's wife was a master liar:

After a man separated from his wife, he “kept unveiling deeper levels of deception.”

His wife lied at the beginning of their relationship as she was wooing him.

He was taken in by her stories at the time, but would discover much later that they were exaggerations and distortions.

During their marriage, she would often go on and on about how bad people are who cheat on their spouses, while, in reality, she was cheating on him.

She moved money into a bank account that he didn’t know about until forensic accounting discovered it during the divorce.

These deceits were just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Partner Abuse Books by Ann Silvers

 

 

12 Types of Lies and Deceptions 

How can you tell when someone is lying? Even worse, how can you tell if someone you love is lying to you? First: increase your lie-spotting capabilities by learning that there is more than one way to lie. 

People have different ways of not telling the truth:

  1. Pretending they are someone they are not
  2. Creating a cover story
  3. “Me thinks thou doth protest too much”
  4. Burying the lead
  5. Telling half-truths
  6. Diverting
  7. Minimizing
  8. Exaggerating
  9. Denying the truth
  10. Withholding information
  11. Selective memory
  12. Straight-up lying

 

12 Types of Lies and Deception Infographic, Lies and Deceit, Not Telling the Truth

 

     

    What it Looks Like When a Liar Lies

    1. Pretending they are someone they are not

    They weave stories that present themselves as someone very different than reality in order to hook the listener or hide their true self.

     

    2. Creating a cover story

    They present a story about their whereabouts/actions or someone else’s actions with the goal of preempting doubts or concerns someone may have about them.

    A very practiced liar will create a new cover story if their original one gets exposed as false. 

     

    3. “Me thinks thou doth protest too much”

    They go out of their way to talk about how abhorrent a particular behavior is while they are secretly doing that same thing. 

     

    Ways people lie and deceive # 3 infographic

     

     

    4. Burying the lead

    They disclose that they have done something not-good but it’s said quietly, when the hearer is distracted, or buried in amongst other information; then they can safely assume the person won’t hear it, but they can say they said it.

     

    5. Telling half-truths

    They say things that are partially true with flair and a twist, leading the hearer to draw conclusions that aren’t true.

     A half truth is a whole lie. Yiddish Proverb

     

    6. Diverting

    They change the subject when someone is honing in on something they don’t want them to know.

     

    7. Minimizing

    They minimize their wrongdoing to make it seem less important or “bad” than it really is, and/or they minimize someone else's accomplishments and attributes to make the other person seem less “good.”

     

    8. Exaggerating

    They exaggerate their accomplishments, contributions, abilities . . ., and/or they exaggerate another person's shortcomings.

     

    9. Denying the truth

    They claim that that which is true—is false.

    This is a form of gaslighting

     

    10. Withholding information

    They lie by omission rather than commission.

     

    11. Selective memory

    They claim that conversations or events that happened didn’t happen.

     

    12. Straight-up lying

    As one woman described her husband: “If his lips are moving, he’s lying.”

     

     

    You may also like this post:

    How to Spot a Sociopathic Liar

    How to Spot a Sociopathic Liar blog post

     

     

     

    Books About Partner Abuse

    Through working with thousands of clients as individuals and couples, as well as my own life experience being the target of an abusive partner, I've figured out a lot about what partner abuse looks like and feels like. I've also learned what helps and doesn't help. I've written several books to pass that learning on to you. 

     

    A quick look at Partner Abuse: A Concise Overview of Domestic Violence, Emotional Abuse, and the 5 Other Forms of Partner Abuse in Straight and LGBTQ Relationships

     

    Abuse OF Men BY Women: It Happens, It Hurts, and It's Time to Get Real About It 

     

     Abuse OF Men BY Women: It Happens, It Hurts, and It's Time to Get Real About It

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    • Ann Silvers
    Comments 1
    • Mary
      Mary

      Thank you so much for your very detailed information! I will have to study all this well as I’m not too fond of it when men lie and vulnerable women are hurt. But even more so, I want to ensure I do not practice lying in some subtle way!

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