Why telling the truth could save your life: Most of us would rather lie to avoid awkwardness (even in high-risk situations)

Daily Mail:

Many of us would rather tell a white lie than the brutal truth to avoid an awkward social situation.

Instead of admitting a friend’s new hair-do is hideous, we may choose to say ‘it’s unique’ or ‘just you’.

But a study has revealed that being too polite can have disastrous consequences in high-stakes situations.

It could result in a doctor not administering the correct treatment if a nurse has not flagged up a potential error, a pilot crashing because a colleague has not pointed out a mistake, or staff ignoring strange occurrences in the workplace to avoid embarrassing colleagues or their boss, resulting in fraud.

An article in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science explains that we resort to ‘politeness strategies’ when we have to share information that suggests someone has made a bad choice.

Read the whole story: Daily Mail