People tell white lies claiming to be tactful or polite. White lies may be completely opposite to the truth, For example, when a person thinks their partner's clothes are unattractive but still says they 'look good'. As mentioned above, a clear lie may lead to the person exaggerating and emphasizing the truth, while a softened truth will include qualifiers such as 'partly', 'sometimes', and so on.We may also tell white lies to avoid harm to others, for example where we know a friend has told a relatively harmless lie to another person, we back up what they have said. Outright lies may be somewhat exaggerated in order to negate any suspicious of the truth. The term white lie was first used in the 1740s to describe a fib or exaggeration that is told as a way to embellish a good story. Hence a person may say 'you look absolutely wonderful' rather than simply 'you look good'.There are benefits to telling the truth and benefits to telling lies. Most of all, we tell these to ourselves, although of course we also have to live the lies in our external lives.Omissions may be made using methods such as changing the subject, feigning confusion, passing the buck to someone else, excusing oneself to leave or simply avoiding being there in the first place.There are also white lies of omission, where there is a clear opportunity to say something but comment is avoided, for example where a person makes excuses to leave when comments on clothes might get invited.Here are a several types of lie that we typically describe as 'white'.What we call 'white lies' can be purely for the benefit of the liar. In doing so, we moderate what we and others know, think or feel.On the other hand, if we reduce dissonance by believing the lie, we may become more concerned for the other person and so the relationship can improve.
What was once a simple and well-meaning lie can hence turn into a massive cover-up as small lies lead to bigger ones and so on.In practice, almost all white lies have some personal benefit, even if it is just avoiding one's own embarrassment.The lack of truth can easily lead to a lack of trust and without sufficient trust relationships may break down. I spent way too much money on them, and they’re completely non-refundable, so I hope you like them.Mila: I’m glad you love them!
I bought them for you.The second excerpt is about the son of a man with Alzheimers. A white lie is usually understood to be a trivial or mundane lie. Here are several reasons.Like Pinocchio, we may also need to tell further lies to support and sustain the original white lie. A degree of lying—you know, white lies—seems to be inherent in all languages and all forms of communication. Good liars do this all the time, believing (at least in the moment) that their obvious lies are actual truths. Women in particular, who tend to put more emphasis on relationships, are more likely to tell white lies.White lies are often, if we could admit it, a key tool in sustaining our sense of self. We do it to save face, to smooth out social situations, to make people feel better, to make our lives more comfortable.
Mila: Ouch!
So what exactly are these white lies?We also tell white lies to reduce our own empathetic distress. Sometimes we consider our untruths to be 'white lies'. What? I bought them especially for this meeting because I thought they were so cool! In this way you can gain their confidence and trust and perhaps persuade them on other matters.There are also black lies that have no white in them (ie.
Alternatively, the person lied to may perpetuate the lie or tell white lies of their own to avoid further distress or harm.Outright lies may be somewhat exaggerated in order to negate any suspicious of the truth. We also tell positive white lies to people about how good they are or how wonderful they look with the simple aim that they feel better about themselves.Sometimes you can usefully tell white lies in a way that the other person realizes that you are not telling the whole truth in order to help them.
In practice, almost all white lies have some shade of gray in them.If they were seeking honesty, they may view the liar negatively, being angry at the evaluation of themselves as unable to accept the truth, or seeing the liar as a coward whose purpose is more driven by self-protection.Relationship change must also be considered in terms of if the white lie was not told.