“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking!” “I’m just stuck in traffic. I’m five minutes away.” “I haven’t seen you in so long. Let’s hang out soon!”

From socially acceptable white lies to outlandish yarns, dishonesty seems to be baked into many of our norms. According to DePaulo’s pioneering empirical research back in 2004, people lie one to two times a day on average. 

Yet, what is the implication of these untruths, especially in seats of justice?

Thomas Mowen, Ph.D.—an associate professor of sociology at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and a researcher at the Center of Family and Demographic Research—specializes in the effects of punishment and policing on youth. His most recent research, however, explored the strategy of lying in the criminal justice system. 

In a study published in the journal “Deviant Behavior,” Mowen and co-authors Amanda Heitkamp, Ph.D., and Kyle Bares, Ph.D., established that individuals who regularly lie also believed they were effective at influencing others by lying.

Yet, Mowen noticed that, despite the prevalence of dishonesty, minimal research had been conducted on whether or not lying is actually a good strategy in the courtroom.

In a sample study, the team of researchers evaluated big-picture behaviors about lying: frequency, incorporation in lifestyle and whether they lie for the sake of lying itself. While the research team assumed lying was a skill improved with practice, this hypothesis was proven false.

The participants who said they were skilled at lying were far more likely to go to prison than those who were truthful.

With trials considering life and death, incarceration and freedom, the classic virtue of honesty carries more real-world weight. Additionally, lying on the witness stand—or perjury—is a felony in itself. Courts rely on truthful testimony to make fair and informed rulings.

Furthermore, Mowen’s research explores what “innocent until proven guilty” really means for the U.S. justice system.

“Almost everyone who is on trial says they are innocent, so there is a widespread presumption that a lot of them are lying, but we don’t often talk about it that way,” Mowen explained in a BGSU press release.

While many view the art of lying as a strategy or effective coercion, Mowen and his team reject this theory. 

“Lying doesn’t help you at all in the criminal justice system; in fact, lying really puts you at a greater risk of incarceration,” Mowen stated.

These findings offer a little more proof for the age-old maxim: honesty really is the best policy.