Most of us will probably admit to the occasional little white lie. But in fact, more than one in three people tell at least one lie every day. And it turns out that the fairer sex are the biggest fibbers of all. According to a survey, a shocking four in five women tell lies on a daily basis.

    Some women even admit to doing so as many as 30 times a day – the equivalent of twice every waking hour, a survey has revealed.

    This compares with two out of five men who said they tended to tell lies every day.

    Fortunately the picture is not as bleak as the statistics imply. People said they mainly shied away from telling the truth to avoid hurting other people's feelings.

    The biggest reason they lied was to "make someone feel better" (55 percent). This was followed by "to stay away from trouble" (32 percent) and one in four put it down to the fact that "life is complicated." "Proving a point" and "saving face" were also common reasons to skirt around the truth.

    Around 2,000 people were questioned for the poll commissioned by insurance company Privilege. And researchers found a common theme running through people's lies.

    "Saying you enjoyed a friend or relative's cooking" when you might not have was the number one reason for lying (42 percent).

    People also commonly fib about their job, their salary or their weight. And they regularly pretend to share a hobby with someone they are trying to impress.

    The research also revealed that the most popular place to lie is "at home." Work and job interviews were the next most popular, followed by social media and CVs.

    The truth is most likely to be told in a court or doctor's surgery.

    As for who we are most likely to lie to, friends are top of the list (30 percent), followed closely by work colleagues and partners (around one in four) and then children.

    Interestingly, it is in middle-age rather than in youth that we are most likely to lie – 46 was the average age of people who admitted regularly telling lies.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    谎言

    huǎngyán

    fib

    a trivial and harmless lie

    不乐观的

    bù lèguān de

    bleak

    gloomy and somber

    女性比男性爱说谎

    大多数人或许会承认，我们偶尔说些善意的谎言。但事实是，超过三分之一的人每天至少说一次谎。

    一项调查表明，原来女性更会撒谎，竟然有五分之四的女性天天说谎。

    调查还披露，一些女性甚至承认一天说谎可达30次，相当于清醒时间内每小时说谎两次。

    与此相比，五分之二的男性说他们每天说谎。

    幸运的是，实际情况不像数据披露的那样糟糕。人们说他们说谎的目的主要是为了避免说真话伤害他人的感情。

    他们说谎的最主要原因是为了“让他人感觉良好（55%）”；其次是为了“避免陷入麻烦（32%）”；四分之一的人则指出说谎是因为“生活很复杂”。此外，“证明某一观点”和“挽回面子”通常也是人们说谎的原因。

    约2000人参与了保险公司Privilege委办的这一问卷调查。研究人员发现了人们说谎通常出于相似的原因。

    即使不觉得好吃，人们也会“说很喜欢朋友或亲戚做的食物”，这是人们的第一大谎言（42%）。

    人们还通常在他们的工作、工资或体重这些话题上撒些小谎。面对自己想留下好印象的人，会假装与Ta有共同的爱好。

    同时调查也披露出说谎最多的地方就是“家里”，其次是在工作和求职面试的场所，再次就是社会媒体和简历上。

    而最真实的话往往出现在法院和医生的诊疗室。

    至于我们最喜欢撒谎的对象：第一位是朋友（30%），其次是同事、伴侣（占了四分之一），然后是孩子。

    有趣的是，中年时比年轻时更爱说谎——经常说谎的人群的平均年龄是46岁。