Would I lie to you? Self-serving lies and other-oriented lies told across different media

This study set out to investigate in which type of media individuals are more likely to tell self-serving and other-oriented lies, and whether this varied according to the recipient of the lie. One hundred and fifty participants rated on a likert-point scale how likely they would tell a lie. Participants were more likely to tell self-serving lies to people not well-known to them. They were more likely to tell self-serving lies in email, followed by phone, and finally face-to-face. Participants were more likely to tell other-oriented lies to individuals they felt close to and this did not vary according to the type media. Participants were also more likely to tell harsh truths to people not well-known to them via email.