Teenagers are not only more likely to lie than people in other age groups, but they are also the quickest and most successful fibbers, according to the first study to map deception across the entire lifespan.
Scientists at the University of Amsterdam wanted to investigate age-related differences in lying proficiency and lying frequency, so they surveyed 1,005 people between the ages of 6 and 77 as they visited the city's Science Centre NEMO, reported The Independent.
Participants were asked to answer a basic general knowledge question to determine their lying frequency, and they also performed a reaction time-based deception task to assess their lying proficiency.
The research team found that teenagers were the quickest and most accurate liars when prompted in the first test. Teenagers were also found to lie more frequently than other age groups, admitting to telling an average of 2.8 lies in the last 24 hours, according to The Independent.
Children aged 6 to 8 years old and people over the age of 60 were the worst at lying, and they also lied less frequently.
The researchers noted that the results correlated with the inverted U-shaped bell-curve, with lying proficiency and frequency quickly increasing during adolescence before gradually declining.
The team said that they observed an "important age-related difference in deception" which "generally fit with the U-shaped pattern of age-related changes observed in inhibitory control."
Adolescents typically exert low inhibitory control, which is defined as the capacity to voluntarily prevent attentional or behavioral responses, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In other words, teenagers can more successfully suppress the truth compared to other age groups.
Because previous studies examining lying have demonstrated that it's not an easy trait to accurately measure, the results should be carefully considered, The Independent noted.
The study was recently published in the journal Acta Psychologica.
