Public beliefs on the relationship between lying and memory

Figures & data

Table 1. Study 1. Agreement and disagreement with statements concerning deceptive behavior.

Statements	Strongly disagree		Somewhat disagree		Neither disagree nor agree		Somewhat agree		Strongly agree		N	M(SD)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
People tend to be honest in daily life	0	0.0	13	11.5	12	10.6	79	70.0	9	8.0	113	3,74(0,77)
*I lie to avoid conflict	3	2.7	11	9.8	9	8.0	62	55.4	27	24.1	112	3,88(0,97)
*I lie when I am able to earn money with it	45	40.2	30	26.8	17	15.2	17	15.2	3	2.7	112	2,13(1,18)
*I lie to create a positive impression of myself	13	11.6	28	25.0	23	20.5	47	42.0	1	0.9	112	2,96(1,09)
*I lie to avoid punishment	1	0.9	22	19.6	10	8.9	59	52.7	20	17.9	112	3,67(1,02)
Other people lie to avoid conflict	1	0.9	3	2.7	10	8.9	77	68.1	22	19.5	113	4,03(0,69)
Other people lie when able to earn money with it	1	0.9	9	8.0	31	27.4	59	52.2	13	11.5	113	3,65(0,82)
Other people lie to create a positive impression of themselves	0	0.0	4	3.5	14	12.4	69	61.1	26	23.0	113	4,04(0,71)
Other people lie to avoid punishment	0	0.0	2	1.8	13	11.5	66	58.4	32	28.3	113	4,13(0,67)

Note. n stands for number of participants and % stands for percentage of participants that indicated a specific agreement. N stands for total sample size. SD stand for standard deviation. The total participants is smaller for the studies with an “*” before the statement. This is because participants who indicated that they never lied were eventually excluded for these questions.

Table 2. Study 1. Agreement and disagreement with statements concerning belief and knowledge about memory functioning.

Statements	Strongly sisagree		Somewhat disagree		Neither disagree nor agree		Somewhat agree		Strongly agree		N	M(SD)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Memory can be inaccurate	1	0.9	0	0.0	2	1.8	21	18.6	89	78.8	113	4,74(0,58)
Memory is like a computer/tape recorder/video camera, accurately recording events as they actually occurred	79	70.0	25	22.1	1	0.9	7	6.2	1	0.9	113	1,46(0,87)
Everything we experience is stored permanently in the brain, even if we can’t access all of it	30	26.5	39	34.5	21	18.6	20	17.7	3	2.7	113	2,35(1,13)
Memory is not influenced by suggestion	86	76.1	21	18.6	0	0.0	2	1.8	4	3.5	113	1,38(0,88)

Note. n stands for number of participants and % stands for percentage of participants that indicated a specific agreement. N stands for total sample size. SD stand for standard deviation.

Table 3. Study 1. Agreement and disagreement with statements concerning belief and knowledge about the effects of lying on memory.

Statements	Strongly disagree		Somewhat disagree		Neither disagree nor agree		Somewhat agree		Strongly agree		N	M(SD)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
People can believe in their own lies	0	0.0	2	1.8	1	0.9	51	45.1	59	52.2	113	4,48(0,61)
People can have childhood memories that are based on lies	0	0.0	1	0.9	3	2.7	50	44.2	59	52.2	113	4,48(0,60)
Our lies can shape our identity	0	0.0	4	3.5	25	22.1	64	56.6	20	17.7	113	3,88(0,73)
People who repeatedly tell the same lie, will start to believe it is the truth	0	0.0	3	2.7	13	11.5	61	54.0	36	31.9	113	4,15(0,72)
People can easily separate the lie from the truth	27	23.9	66	58.4	16	14.2	4	3.5	0	0.0	113	1,97(0,73)
Different types of lies can impact memory differently	0	0.0	1	0.9	42	37.2	63	55.8	7	6.2	113	3,67(0,60)
People who deny that an event happened (even though the event actually did happen) are likely to forget that even	3	2.7	35	31.0	38	33.6	33	29.2	4	3.5	113	3,00(0,93)
People who pretend to have memory loss about an event are likely to forget that event	6	5.3	46	40.7	27	23.9	31	27.4	3	2.7	113	2,81(0,99)

Note. n stands for number of participants and % stands for percentage of participants that indicated a specific agreement. N stands for total sample size. SD stand for standard deviation.

Table 4. Demographical information of Amazon mechanical turk sample.

Characteristic	n	%
Gender
Male	360	66.2
Female	183	33.6
Nonbinary	1	0.2
Ethnicity
Asian/Pacific Islander	256	47.1
Black or African American	37	6.8
Hispanic or Latino	19	3.5
Native American or American Indian	7	1.3
Other (specify)	7	1.3
White	218	40.1
Education
Less than a high school diploma	3	0.6
High school degree or equivalent	80	14.7
Bachelor's degree (e.g. BA, BS)	326	59.9
Master's degree (e.g. MA, MS, MEd)	115	21.1
Doctorate (e.g. PhD, MD, JD, EeD)	9	1.7
Other (specify)	11	2.0
Employment Status
Employed full-time (40 h or more per week)	392	72.1
Employed part-time (Fewer than 40 h per week)	63	11.6
Homemaker	9	1.7
Retired	9	1.7
Self-unemployed	38	7.0
Student	7	1.3
Unemployed	3	0.6
Unemployed and currently looking for work	19	3.5
Unemployed and not currently looking for work	4	0.7
Profession
Agriculture, food, and/or natural resources	13	2.4
Architecture and construction	15	2.8
Arts, audio/video technology, and/or communications	26	4.8
Business management and/or administration	36	6.6
Education and/or training	57	10.5
Finance	46	8.5
Government and/or public administration	10	1.8
Health science	25	4.6
Hospitality and/or tourism	13	2.4
Human services	11	2.0
Information technology	139	25.6
Law, public safety, corrections, and/or security	2	0.4
Manufacturing	48	8.8
Marketing, sales, and/or service	35	6.4
Other (specify)	33	6.1
Science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics	23	4.2
Transportation, distribution, and/or logistics	12	2.2

Table 5. Study 2. Agreement and disagreement with statements concerning deceptive behavior.

Statements	Strongly disagree		Somewhat disagree		Neither disagree nor agree		Somewhat agree		Strongly agree		N	M(SD)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
People tend to be honest in daily life	13	2.4	78	14.3	58	10.7	303	55.7	92	16.9	544	3,70 (0,99)
*I lie to avoid conflict	2	0.5	17	4.0	56	13.2	219	51.8	129	30.5	423	4,08 (0,80)
*I lie when I am able to earn money with it	103	24.3	106	25.1	72	17.0	104	24.6	38	9.0	423	2,69 (1,32)
*I lie to create a positive impression of myself	42	9.9	65	15.4	82	19.4	161	38.1	73	17.3	423	3,37 (1,22)
*I lie to avoid punishment	32	7.6	51	12.1	73	17.3	177	41.8	90	21.3	423	3,57 (1,17)
Other people lie to avoid conflict	6	1.1	30	5.5	81	14.9	299	55.0	128	23.5	544	3,94 (0,84)
Other people lie when able to earn money with it	6	1.1	33	6.1	116	21.3	236	43.4	153	28.1	544	3,91 (0,91)
Other people lie to create a positive impression of themselves	7	1.3	19	3.5	63	11.6	255	46.9	200	36.8	544	4,14 (0,85)
Other people lie to avoid punishment	1	0.2	19	3.5	64	11.8	250	46.0	210	38.6	544	4,19 (0,79)

Note. n stands for number of participants and % stands for percentage of participants that indicated a specific agreement. N stands for total sample size. SD stand for standard deviation. The total participants is smaller for the studies with an “*” before the statement. This is because participants who indicated that they never lied were eventually excluded for these questions.Appendix

Table 6. Study 2. Agreement and disagreement with statements concerning belief and knowledge about memory functioning.

Statements	Strongly disagree		Somewhat disagree		Neither disagree nor agree		Somewhat agree		Strongly sgree		N	M(SD)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Memory can be inaccurate	19	3.5	49	9.0	86	15.8	212	39.0	178	32.7	544	3,88 (1,07)
Memory is like a computer/tape recorder/video camera, accurately recording events as they actually occurred	82	15.1	127	23.3	79	14.5	182	33.5	74	13.6	544	3,07 (1,31)
Everything we experience is stored permanently in the brain, even if we can’t access all of it	32	5.9	84	15.4	100	18.4	222	40.8	106	19.5	544	3,53 (1,14)
Memory is not influenced by suggestion	106	19.5	157	28.9	104	19.1	126	23.2	51	9.4	544	2,74 (1,27)

Note. n stands for number of participants and % stands for percentage of participants that indicated a specific agreement. N stands for total sample size. SD stand for standard deviation.

Table 7. Study 2. Agreement and disagreement with statements concerning belief and knowledge about the effects of lying on memory.

Statements	Strongly disagree		Somewhat disagree		Neither disagree nor agree		Somewhat agree		Strongly agree		N	M(SD)
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
People can believe in their own lies	12	2.2	31	5.7	64	11.8	276	50.7	161	29.6	544	4,00 (0,92)
People can have childhood memories that are based on lies	3	0.6	45	8.3	89	16.4	247	45.4	160	29.4	544	3,95 (0,92)
Our lies can shape our identity	11	2.0	30	5.5	99	18.2	261	48.0	143	26.3	544	3,91 (0,92)
People who repeatedly tell the same lie, will start to believe it is the truth	9	1.7	32	5.9	82	15.1	274	50.4	147	27.0	544	3,95 (0,90)
People can easily separate the lie from the truth	36	6.6	136	25.0	135	24.8	157	28.9	80	14.7	544	3,20 (1,16)
Different types of lies can impact memory differently	6	1.1	22	4.0	102	18.8	303	55.7	111	20.4	544	3,90 (0,80)
People who deny that an event happened (even though the event actually did happen) are likely to forget that event	21	3.9	87	16.0	142	26.1	220	40.4	74	13.6	544	3,44 (1,04)
People who pretend to have memory loss about an event are likely to forget that event	31	5.7	104	19.1	141	25.9	204	37.5	64	11.8	544	3,31 (1,08)

Note. n stands for number of participants and % stands for percentage of participants that indicated a specific agreement. N stands for total sample size. SD stand for standard deviation.