Liar, liar, pants on fire. That’s what I would say when I was a kid when I knew someone was lying. We can all agree that there’s a big difference between lying about something that causes an unfortunate event verse lying about how much chocolate you ate for dessert. All lies are not created equal. Honestly, 99% of the time lying is wrong. It’s up to you to decide if the lie you’ve heard happens to fall in that sacred 1%. So, let me inform you about the 6 types of lairs you’ll find in the wild.
1. The White Liars.
No, I’m not talking about white people. I’m talking about the little white lies. White liars usually start lying with the best intentions. We can call these people “considerate liars”. The lies are often said to avoid hurting your feelings or making you feel bad. The most typical type could be about your appearance or about something you aren’t too good at. Maybe your pants are 2 sizes too small, but the white liar will still say “Those pants don’t make you look fat!”. You might have only made one basket out of twenty attempts, but this liar will insist that you’re not that bad at basketball. Usually, they lie to try to motivate you or lift your spirits. While they may be the kindest of liars, their comments could sometimes be insincere and, at their core, they are still lying.
Check out: How to be a nicer person with 10 tips
2. The Exaggerative Liars.
Please welcome, the big baller! Oops, I mean, the exaggerative liar! You sometimes have to laugh at the things this person will say to make themselves seem cooler than they actually are. Maybe they ran a mile, but they will swear to you that they’re in such great shape they could definitely run a marathon. They may have an average IQ, but you’ll be sure to hear how they are basically a genius. The exaggerative liar could lie in less-obvious ways, like by always trying to one-up you. You visited a new place? They might say that they have already been there three times. Sadly enough, this person has their own insecurities. They don’t feel that they’re enough as-is, so they try to lie their way to either fit in, look cool, or to boost their self-esteem.
3. The Denial Liars. Deny, deny, deny.
This is the motto of someone who has done something wrong. Denial liars are some of the most frustrating people out there because they tend to stick to their guns until death. They will never say that you are right, and they will refuse to acknowledge that they are anything but perfect. Unless you have proof otherwise, the denial liar will push all of the blame on you and make you feel like you’re losing your mind. This is their first resort when you catch them in the wrong. You’ll commonly hear them say things like, “I never said that” Or “I never did that.” Their stubbornness is strong and firm, so it will be hard to keep your calm around them.
Check out: 10 Signs your friend doesn’t respect you
4. The Omission Liars.
Omission liars seem to have a bit more of a conscience than Denial Liars. If they feel guilty about something, they would simply keep it as their own dirty little secret. Lying by omission is when a person leaves out important information or doesn’t correct a prior misunderstanding in order to hide the truth. They do this so that they can have the excuse of saying that they never lied… they just didn’t tell you. Omission liars think they have found the loophole of lying, but we all know that they’re doing the same thing, just in a different way. If you told me “It’s so great that you’ve got straight A’s on all of your classes!” and I nod and smile when I really got straight B’s on all of my classes but afraid to say it because my Asian parents would disown me. Yeah… let’s keep this between us. Communication is actually more than 80% nonverbal, so YES, you can lie by not saying anything at all. But if you were to take this up to the law then that’s totally different.
5. The Manipulative Liars.
People often want what they can’t have. Manipulative liars don’t like hearing that they can’t have something they want, so they resort to lying to get their way. The manipulative liar is slick and knows how to convince you to say or do something you weren’t planning on. They use tactics like playing with your emotions in order to get what they’re really looking for. We can see this a lot in romantic relationships, unfortunately, so make sure to always check if their actions match their words.
6. The Pathological Liars.
These types of liars are the most difficult to understand because they don’t have a real reason for lying. They will lie about anything at any time. Most pathological liars also lack empathy, so they could care less about the repercussions of their lies. They may incorporate aspects of all of the previous forms of liars, like manipulation, denial, and omission. These types of liars could be really toxic and sometimes it’s a condition that’s hard to fix.
Check out: 10 Signs you’re becoming toxic
Conclusion:
While we all wish that the world could be honest all of the time, it just doesn’t work that way. Stay on alert if you have a feeling that someone is being insincere. Keep these 6 types of liars in mind and steer clear if you meet any of them that’s causing you trouble. The best thing you can do otherwise is to keep being honest to yourself and others so others can see it and do the same. So there you have it 6 types of liars.