CNN
—
When Timothy Levine got down to write a e book about deception in 2016, he wished to incorporate a chapter on one in every of its most excessive varieties: pathological mendacity.
“I simply couldn’t discover any good analysis base on this,” mentioned Levine, chair of the Division of Communication Research on the College of Alabama at Birmingham.
Now, it appears it’s the one factor anybody needs to speak to him about.
“Santos has introduced extra reporters to me within the final couple of weeks than in all probability within the final 12 months,” Levine mentioned.
Santos, after all, is US Rep. George Santos, a Republican from Lengthy Island who was just lately elected to characterize New York’s third congressional district.
Within the months since his election, key claims from Santos’ biography – together with the place he earned his faculty diploma, his employment at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, an animal rescue group he says he based and his Jewish non secular affiliation – have withered beneath the scrutiny of reporters and fact-checkers. Now, he says, he doesn’t have a school diploma; he wasn’t employed by Citigroup or Goldman Sachs; and the IRS has no document of his animal rescue group. He additionally says he by no means claimed to be Jewish, however somewhat he was “Jew-ish.”
Santos defended himself in media interviews in December, saying that the discrepancies have been the results of résumé padding and poor phrase decisions however that he was not a prison or a fraud.
It’s not clear what’s driving Santos’ statements.
However the story has given professionals who research mendacity in its most excessive varieties a uncommon second to lift consciousness about mendacity as a psychological dysfunction – one they are saying has been largely uncared for by docs and therapists.
“It’s uncommon to discover a public determine who lies so steadily in such verifiable methods,” says Christian Hart, a psychologist who directs the Human Deception Laboratory at Texas Lady’s College.
Psychiatrists have acknowledged pathological mendacity as a psychological affliction because the late 1800s, but consultants say it has by no means been given severe consideration, funding or actual research. It doesn’t have its personal prognosis within the Diagnostic and Statistical Handbook of Psychological Problems, or DSM, the bible of psychiatry. As an alternative, it’s acknowledged as a characteristic of different diagnoses, like character problems.
In consequence, there’s no evidence-based strategy to deal with it, though many pathological liars say they need assist to cease.
The usual strategy to treating mendacity depends on strategies borrowed from cognitive behavioral remedy, which emphasizes understanding and altering considering patterns. However nobody is bound that that is the best means to assist.
We don’t know essentially what’s the best remedy,” mentioned Drew Curtis, an affiliate professor of psychology at Angelo State College in Texas who research pathological mendacity.
Curtis had somebody supply to drive throughout the nation to see him for remedy, which he says he wasn’t capable of supply.
“In order that’s the heartbreaking aspect of it for me, as a clinician: individuals which are wanting to assist and may’t have the assistance,” Curtis mentioned.
Longtime collaborators Curtis and Hart just lately printed a research laying out proof to assist the inclusion of pathological mendacity as a standalone prognosis within the DSM.
Through the years, Hart mentioned, virtually 20 individuals have proposed definitions of pathological mendacity, however there’s little or no overlap between them: “The one actually frequent characteristic is that these individuals lie lots.”
The very first thing to find out about pathological or compulsive mendacity is that it’s uncommon, Levine says. His research present that most individuals inform the reality more often than not.
“These actually prolific liars are fairly uncommon,” mentioned Levine, whose e book about deception, “Duped,” was printed in 2019.
Which isn’t to say that mendacity isn’t frequent. Most individuals lie generally, even every day. In his research, individuals lied as much as twice a day, on common.
Levine himself recurrently lies on the grocery retailer when staff ask whether or not he discovered all the pieces he was searching for. For the reason that Covid-19 pandemic started, that reply is sort of all the time no, however he says sure anyway.
Certainly one of his college students labored in a retail clothes retailer and recurrently lied to individuals who have been attempting on garments. One other – a receptionist – lied to cowl for a health care provider who was all the time working late.
That’s all fairly regular, Levine mentioned. He believes that honesty is our default mode of communication just because individuals should be trustworthy with one another to work successfully in huge teams, one thing people do uniquely effectively within the animal kingdom.
However sticking to the info isn’t straightforward for everybody.
Of their research, Hart and Curtis have discovered that most individuals inform a mean of about one lie a day. That’s fairly regular. Then there are individuals who lie lots: about 10 lies a day, on common.
Hart and Curtis name prolific or particularly consequential liars – somebody like Bernie Madoff, who dupes and defrauds buyers, for instance – “Large Liars,” which can also be the title of their latest e book.
Large mendacity is fairly uncommon. Pathological mendacity is much more uncommon than that.
Hart thinks he’s solely ever interacted with two those who met the classical case research description of pathological mendacity.
“It was dizzying,” Hart says.
When individuals begin to lie a lot that they’ll’t cease or that it begins to harm them or individuals round them, that’s when it turns into irregular and may have remedy.
“It’s extra the scientific class of people that inform extreme quantities of lies that impairs their functioning, causes misery, and poses some threat to themselves or others,” Curtis mentioned, sharing the working definition of pathological mendacity that he and Hart hope will finally be included within the DSM.
“What we discovered, analyzing all of the instances, is that the mendacity seems to be considerably compulsive,” Hart mentioned. “That’s, they’re mendacity in conditions when an inexpensive particular person in all probability wouldn’t lie, and it looks like even to their very own detriment in lots of instances.
“It tends to trigger dysfunction of their lives,” Hart mentioned, together with social, relationship and employment issues.
On some degree, pathological liars know they’re mendacity. When confronted with their lies, they’ll usually admit to their dishonesty.
Mendacity will also be a characteristic of different problems, however Hart says that once they assessed individuals who met the factors for pathological mendacity, they discovered one thing attention-grabbing.
“It turned out that almost all of them don’t have one other psychological dysfunction. And so it looks like mendacity is their principal drawback,” he mentioned, lending weight to the concept that it deserves to be its personal prognosis.
The American Psychiatric Affiliation, or APA, publishes the DSM and recurrently critiques proposals for brand spanking new diagnoses. Curtis says he has been gathering proof and is within the technique of filling out the paperwork the APA requires to think about whether or not pathological mendacity needs to be a brand new prognosis.
As for whether or not sure professions appear to draw individuals who lie greater than common, Hart says that’s a sophisticated query.
It’s not that individuals who lie lots are likely to gravitate to sure jobs. Fairly, sure jobs – like gross sales, for instance – in all probability reward the power to lie easily, and so these professions could also be extra prone to have a better focus of people that lie greater than common.
“The proof we have now means that politicians aren’t by their nature any extra dishonest than the everyday particular person,” Hart mentioned. “Nevertheless, when individuals go into politics, there’s fairly good proof that essentially the most profitable politicians are those which are extra prepared to bend the reality” and they also could be the ones extra prone to be re-elected.
Solely time will inform, how the scenario might play out for Santos.
Up to now, he has resisted calls to step down, saying he intends to serve his time period in Congress. This week, although, Santos introduced he would step down from any committee assignments whereas the investigations are ongoing.
