Pathological Liars: Definition, Types, & Signs
Pathological liars are people who lie even when there is no apparent reason to do so. Why do they lie so much, and why can’t they stop themselves from lying?
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I once lived with somebody who really struggled to take accountability for the negative impacts of their actions. When they left a chore undone or did not show up to a meeting, they nearly always had an excuse; in fact, we went through several weeks of the “illness of the week,” which was always accompanied by an elaborate explanation of how much they were suffering and how badly they needed to be excused from their responsibilities. |
It seemed apparent to me that this housemate could not in fact handle those responsibilities in the first place, and rather than admit to this, they sought a way to avoid the negative consequences of failing to honor their commitments. In this way, they were behaving much like a pathological liar would. Pathological liars default to lying in challenging situations, and sometimes even in situations that aren’t challenging at all. How do they end up this way, and what is going through their minds? Let’s look at the psychological research to find out.
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What Is a Pathological Liar? (A Definition)
These everyday lies we tell seem to have some kind of social purpose, which may be as simple as avoiding the unpleasant consequences of telling the truth in a given situation (Selling, 1942). Plenty of psychologists consider this “normal lying” and have noted all of the adaptive functions of lying, such as avoiding unnecessary emotional hurt and generally easing social interactions (Ford et al., 1988; Selling, 1942). For some of us, the act of lying comes with a lot of guilt or shame, while for others, it is not something that generates much of a reaction.
Pathological liars are distinct from the rest of us in that they lie without such clear motives; in fact, they lie even in situations where there is absolutely no pressure on them to respond in a certain way (Dike, 2008). If a pathological liar is caught in the act and asked to explain their behavior, they may try to justify their choices, but they will not always have a good reason for having lied. This behavior has been given several names by psychologists and researchers, such as mythomania, compulsive lying, and pseudologia fantastica (King & Ford, 1988).
In addition to lying without clear motives, pathological liars lie much more often than non-pathological liars. In fact, the frequency with which they lie has led researchers to wonder if their lying comes from a difficulty with impulsivity, or acting without thinking (Healy & Healy, 1915). This kind of lying behavior seems to start in adolescence or early adulthood (King & Ford, 1988). From there, it is a pretty consistent trait for most people who do it; few people pathologically lie only for brief periods of time (Healy & Healy, 1915).
Another key trait of pathological liars is that they tend to tell more elaborate and unlikely lies, often fabricating larger, more complicated, and more fantastical stories than non-pathological liars (King & Ford, 1988). These lies often draw a lot of attention to the liars, which seems to be something they want, but also often create the kind of scrutiny that gets them in trouble (Snyder, 1986). Since there are usually negative consequences for these kinds of elaborate lies (Healy & Healy, 1915), it is difficult to say why pathological liars continue to engage in them.
Causes of Pathological Lying
These lies may also be motivated by pathological liars’ desire to make their own lives more interesting or to engage in fantasy about how their lives might be (Ford et al., 1988). The stories they tell may boost their self-esteem, help them fulfill fantasies, or help them avoid their current reality, which is just not as interesting as they would like (Ford et al., 1988). To understand this, you can think, for example, about a situation you might daydream about, like winning the lottery or meeting your celebrity crush. Now, imagine that before you can stop yourself or think twice, you tell a friend that this event actually happened. Would you backtrack and apologize for lying, or keep going and tell a good story?
If that example doesn’t help you get into the mindset of a pathological liar, here is a quotation taken from a research study in which pathological liars, when confronted about a lie, were asked to describe what their experience of lying had been:
“When I get this excitement, it’s fun for a little while but then it gets overwhelming. . . . I was laughing at what I was gaining from the situation but not from other people’s suffering. I knew how to start it and I don’t know how to stop. And that’s when I get into trouble. I get the result that I want for myself but I didn’t want the other person to get in trouble. I couldn’t go and tell later on that I lied” (Birch et al., 2006).
I think there are lots of important themes to take from this self-disclosure. First, the pathological liar does seem to get some enjoyment out of the process, suggesting that maybe they lie to feel better in some situations. Second, the pathological liar may not be considering the impacts of the lie on other people at the time they start lying—instead, they may be focused primarily on the impacts on themselves. Finally, it sounds as though, at least for this pathological liar, there is a sense of being somewhat out of control when lying, which has been seen in some of the research that has actually looked directly at the brains of pathological liars (more on that in a moment).
While we all experience moments when our realities and our sense of self come into conflict—I’m thinking of the moments when people ask me for money, and my sense of myself as a generous person is brought into question—pathological liars seem willing to go to greater lengths than the rest of us, at least in their lying, to avoid having to face painful reminders that they are not all they dream themselves to be (Ford, 1996).
Another way to look at this is that pathological liars may have a strongly developed “false self”—growing up, they learned that their real self was not acceptable, and so they fashioned themselves a different public persona that would be more acceptable to others (Grubin, 2005). This kind of false self, however, which is often more successful and interesting than the real self, must be maintained through deception and lies.
Signs That Someone Might Be a Pathological Liar
Another way you may be able to identify pathological lying in action is if the person who has engaged in the elaborate lie is able to admit that they were lying (King & Ford, 1988). People without this capacity may instead be delusional. Some pathological liars, such as people with narcissistic personalities, may cling to their lies more fervently than others, but most pathological liars, confronted with enough evidence of their falsehood, can explain their decision-making process.
It is also important to rule out the possibility that the person simply does not remember the situation well (King & Ford, 1988). People may lie to fill in the gaps in their memories; this is called confabulation and should be considered different from pathological lying.
Pathological Liars and Narcissism
Think about the quotation I shared above: That person felt bad about hurting other people with their lies. There are other pathological liars, such as people with narcissism, for whom this is not the case (King & Ford, 1988). For narcissists, lying is explicitly designed to boost their egos, and many people are able to recognize that this exaggerated boasting is false (Dike, 2008).
Pathological Liars and Mental Illness
Pathological lying is not a mental illness, although it can be a symptom of certain mental illnesses. Specifically, people with personality disorders such as antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder may lie often and intensely (Ford et al., 1988; Snyder, 1986). People who have mental illnesses that involve psychosis—a break from reality as everyone else understands it—should not be considered to be engaging in pathological lying, for they usually fully believe what they are saying and cannot see how their statements are false (Dike, 2008).
Types of Pathological Liars
Most pathological liars do not try to defend their lies with physical aggression, and only about half of them engage in any crimes at all (King & Ford, 1988). People with personality disorders, especially antisocial personality disorder, are more likely to lie repeatedly for clear self-serving purposes and to defend their lies more aggressively (Powell et al., 1983).
On a related note, some people lie repeatedly to get medical benefits or so that others will believe they are sick and show them sympathy. This malingering, sometimes called factitious disorder, is not exactly pathological lying, because the motives of the liars are easy to identify (Grubin, 2005), and actual pathological liars are not in fact interested in being sick.
Pathological Liars in Relationships
Pathological liars are liable to lie consistently in their personal relationships for years on end (Dike, 2008). They seem to tell an average of at least 10 lies daily, compared to one lie per day for non-pathological liars (Curtis & Hart, 2020). This causes a lot of damage and stress in their relationships, both for the people in their lives and for the liars themselves (Curtis & Hart, 2020, 2022). It may even enter into their relationships with people they truly need to tell the truth to, such as therapists (Curtis & Hart, 2022).
Characteristics of Pathological Liars
Not a lot of psychological research has tried to characterize pathological liars beyond describing what they do. However, one interesting line of research found that the brains of pathological liars are different from other people’s brains. Specifically, pathological liars may have more developed parts of their prefrontal cortex that make it easier for them to come up with fabrications (Yang et al., 2007). This could occur because of both their genetics and their experiences growing up—it is easy to imagine that if you learned at a young age that lying worked in some key ways, you would end up using it more and more to manage your life.
Pathological Liars and Sociopathy
Sociopaths and people with antisocial personality disorder do lie at very high rates, but always with the clear motive of personal profit (or simply enhancing their own pleasure) (Dike, 2008). This makes them different from a traditional pathological liar, whose motives for lying are far less clear.
Examples of Pathological Lying
Pathological lies are usually somewhat truthful, in-depth, and flattering to the person who is telling them (King & Ford, 1988). For example, pathological liars may tell stories about getting promoted at work and all the wonderful praise they are receiving just to avoid being bored at the dinner table or thinking that their spouse finds them unattractive.
Quotes about Pathological Lying
- “All liars . . . lie to protect themselves, to shield their egos from the raw pain of truth.” — Aminatta Forna
- “Not all compulsive liars suffer from a psychiatric illness. They commonly lie to gain admiration, popularity, control, and the ability to manipulate others to compensate for low self-esteem. They seek to disguise failure by making others feel responsible or by casting the blame on someone else.” — Gini Graham Scott
- “Pathological liars lie most often to themselves about their ability to fool others. They think they’re geniuses at it when most people see through their constant deceit in a split second. Yet their brittle egos and lack of self-awareness (the reasons they lie in the first place) prevent them from noticing they’re bad liars. Thus, they never learn, progress, and become better people.” — Stewart Stafford
- “I’ve studied pathological liars, and anything they say, they believe, and that’s one of the reasons they’re so convincing, because they have no connection with the truth. It’s a dead issue. It’s like they’re color-blind to the truth. So anything that comes out of their mouths is their reality.” — Jane Velez-Mitchell
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Final Thoughts on Pathological Liars
While being misled by a pathological liar is upsetting and undesirable, it may be helpful to keep in mind that most pathological liars are really struggling with the consequences of their inclination to lie (Curtis & Hart, 2020). We can try our best not to get taken in by their lies, while also hoping that they find better ways to move through the world. If you are curious about how treatable pathological lying is, you might enjoy watching this video:
Video: Can a Pathological Liar Be Cured?
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References
- Curtis, D. A., & Hart, C. L. (2020). Pathological lying: Theoretical and empirical support for a diagnostic entity. Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice, 2(2), 62–69.
- Curtis, D. A., & Hart, C. L. (2022). Pathological lying: psychotherapists’ experiences and ability to diagnose. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 75(2), 61–66.
- Dike, C. C. (2008). Pathological lying: Symptom or disease? Living with no permanent motive or benefit. Psychiatric Times, 25(7), 67–67.
- Ford, C. V. (1996). Lies! Lies!! Lies!!! The psychology of deceit. American Psychiatric Association.
- Ford, C. V., King, B. H., & Hollender, M. H. (1988). Lies and liars: Psychiatric aspects of prevarication. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 554–562.
- Grubin, D. (2005). Commentary: Getting at the truth about pathological lying. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 33(3), 350–353.
- Healy, W., & Healy, M. T. (1915). Pathological lying, accusation, and swindling: A study in forensic psychology. Little, Brown and Co.
- King, B. H., & Ford, C. V. (1988). Pseudologia fantastica. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 77(1), 1–6.
- Powell, G. E., Gudjonsson, G. H., & Mullen, P. (1983). Application of the guilty-knowledge technique in a case of pseudologia fantastica. Personality and Individual Differences, 4(2), 141–146.
- Selling, L. (1942). The psychiatric aspects of the pathological liar. Nervous Child, 1, 335–350.
- Snyder, S. (1986). Pseudologia fantastica in the borderline patient. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143(10), 1287–1289.
- Yang, Y., Raine, A., Narr, K. L., Lencz, T., LaCasse, L., Colletti, P., & Toga, A. W. (2007). Localisation of increased prefrontal white matter in pathological liars. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(2), 174–175.
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