Western Courier

Issue date: 11/29/04 Section: News

Media Credit: Mel Evans/THE RECORD Julian Keenan (seated) and his research assistant Kevin Guise watch the readings from brain wave measurments and eye tracker goggles on Kayleigh Cesare at their research laboratory at Montclair State University.

HACKENSACK, N.J. (KRT) - Pride yourself on being an honest person? Well, Julian Keenan would like you to try not to lie for a month.

"Try telling a cop who pulls you over what you really think or a hostess what you think of her food," said Keenan, a Montclair State University professor. "You'll see how difficult it is and how much a part of your life lying is."

According to Keenan, who has been researching the world of deception for 10 years, everybody lies.

"The average person tells at least one lie per day," said Keenan, who admits he is not the greatest at spotting fibbers.

What surprised him the most in his studies of hundreds of Montclair State students is how prevalent lying is, how bad people are at detecting it and how different the genders are at lying.

Women, for example, tend to lie about their age, weight and looks, makeup, plastic surgery and clothes that enhance or manipulate the body.

"Men exaggerate how much they make and their job title or grade point average," said Keenan, 34. "They tend to lie about wanting to get married and saying they want to have children."

But why lie at all? There are some good reasons that probably go back 5 million years, said Keenan, director of the university's Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory.

"Lying has played a key role in our evolution, in making humans, human," he said. "It's one of the most amazing, sophisticated, advanced cognitive abilities we have. All evidence indicates that we are genetically programmed to lie. The liar has such an advantage over you. So the gene is passed on."

Keenan points to the recent presidential election. "The party that lied better had an advantage and won," he said.

It is a lesson learned early. About 95 percent of children lie, Keenan said, and they start the practice early - at the tender age of 2.

"We find it is a sign in children of high intelligence," he said. "They have to be able to understand that you have thoughts. They need to hide the cookie from you, not themselves. Very few animals lie, except maybe a few apes. It's one of the hallmarks of humans."

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