Wednesday 24 March 2010

This could explain a lot...

People in power make better liars, study shows


This may well be true, although I don't necessarily believe it on the basis of this study (devised by academics at a business school, as opposed to proper scientists).

I suspect that, if true, it may be the other way round. A talent for effective lying could be one of the ways people gain power in the first place. From the first well-judged untruth on a CV, to the tangled webs of deceit and manipulation woven by the ambitious schemer heading for the top, a talent for misleading may smooth the path to power. Once you are on top, though, controlling information and answerable to very few others, I guess you can tell huge porkies with more confidence and less risk than a subordinate who, subject to more oversight, runs a greater risk of being caught, and who has less power for self-defence if caught.

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