Mumbai: A girl walks out of her room dressed to the nines and asks her boyfriend what he thinks of her looks.
He is not too pleased but says after a pause, “You look amazing.” It’s a lie, a blatant though harmless one, and the kind that men are known to say too often.
Not surprisingly, a recent survey abroad has revealed that men lie more than women.
It turns out that men lie mostly to satisfy their ego; they may claim to make more money than they do or may exaggerate the number of ex-girlfriends they have had.
They also lie to win an argument or to stay out of trouble.
Karan Rao, a software professional based in Chennai, admits, “I lie about facts to win an argument or to impress someone. If it helps make an impression, why not lie to gain advantage. But not at the risk of hurting someone.”
Men love to think they can fix anything and are forced to lie when they realise they can’t.
Rohit Khanna, a Mumbai-based fashion consultant, says, “It’s practically programmed into our genes. Most men, like me, even if they don’t know how to fix something, do not admit it. Like last month, there was a bathroom disaster at my girlfriend’s and instead of calling a plumber, I offered to fix it. Despite making it worse, I scored brownie points with my girlfriend for the effort. So lying does help.”
Popular fashion designer Nikhil Thampi says lying is okay as far as it is harmless. He says, “Lie, I don’t lie.... See I just lied, haha... I absolutely agree with the survey. Men do lie more than women. It’s not something to be proud of, but a lie that does not harm anyone is hardly a lie.” He adds, “Once my classmate was getting married and trust me she looked like a walking chandelier from head to toe and me being the designer friend, she asked me for her opinion after purchasing this extremely heavy outfit. Now the damage was done, the wedding was in two days. I decided to make her happy rather than make her conscious on her big day.”
Women too tend to use “well-intentioned” lies to minimise the damage of emotions, says actress Adah Sharma. “Usually I am honest and it gets very messy sometimes. For example, I would feel very guilty watching a terrible movie and saying I love it. So I wouldn’t say anything at all and it’s a ‘no comments’ sort of a lie. It doesn’t hurt the other and at the same time you don’t lose anything either,” she adds.
