Department of Psychology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2024 May 1;79(5). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbae022.
Lying is a common social behavior; however, there is limited research on lying about health and if this differs into later life. This study sought to explore age differences in the frequency of and motivations behind telling health-related lies and if lying differs within romantic and parent/child relationships.
Younger (N = 158) and older adults (N = 149) reported how often they told general health-related lies, how often they lied about health to their romantic partner and parent or adult child, and why they told health lies.
Compared with older adults, younger adults lied more frequently to conceal sickness and pain as well as to feign sickness. Younger adults also told more health lies to their parent than their romantic partner, but older adults lied to their adult child and partner at similar rates. Younger adults reported lying more about their health because they felt ashamed or embarrassed and they worried about what others would think of them compared with older adults.
These results suggest that health-related honesty may increase in later life and that younger and older adults differ in why they tell health lies. Implications for psychological theory on lying about one's health and health interventions are discussed.
说谎是一种常见的社会行为；然而，关于人们对健康的说谎行为，以及这种行为是否会随着年龄的增长而变化，相关研究还很有限。本研究旨在探讨在报告健康相关谎言的频率以及背后的动机方面，年轻人和老年人之间是否存在差异，以及这种差异是否存在于浪漫关系和亲子关系中。
年轻组（N=158）和老年组（N=149）报告了他们报告一般性健康相关谎言的频率、向浪漫伴侣和父母/成年子女说谎的频率，以及说谎的原因。
与老年人相比，年轻人更频繁地说谎以隐瞒疾病和疼痛，以及佯装生病。年轻人也更倾向于向父母而非浪漫伴侣说谎，但老年人向成年子女和伴侣说谎的频率相似。与老年人相比，年轻人报告更多的健康谎言是因为他们感到羞耻或尴尬，以及担心别人会怎么看待他们。
这些结果表明，随着年龄的增长，与健康相关的诚实可能会增加，而且年轻人和老年人在为什么要编造健康谎言方面存在差异。对关于人们对自己健康说谎的心理学理论和健康干预措施具有启示意义。
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