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The psychology of why people like Steve Rannazzisi lie about having survived 9/11
The Washington Post: Steve Rannazzisi didn’t sound like someone putting on a show. “I was sort of the party starter of Merrill Lynch,” he said in an interview in 2009. “Until our building got hit with
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Why Do People Lie When They Can Easily Get Caught?
TIME: On Wednesday, Steve Rannazzisi—a comedian who found fame on MTV’s Punk’d and has stars in the popular FXX show The League—admitted he had fabricated a story that he said was the basis for his
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Is Lying Rational?
Scientific American: Everybody lies. But for the most part, we still see ourselves as good, honest people. So, why do we do it—and are we all just kidding ourselves? This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science.
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Impossible Knowledge: Are You an Expert?
The Huffington Post: I grew up with a habitual overclaimer. He wildly exaggerated his expertise, at times claiming knowledge of things he couldn’t possibly know — people, events, ideas that simply do not exist. Being
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Ambiguous Situations Make It Easier to Justify Ethical Transgressions
Two experiments show that people are apt to cheat in favor of their self-interest but only when the situation is ambiguous enough to provide moral cover.
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Learning The Hard Truth About Lying
NPR: We all lie sometimes. But if you’re in the public eye, the lie can take on a life of its own. NBC’s Brian Williams became the victim of his own story last month, exaggerating
