Big Liars What Psychological Science Tells Us About Lying and How You Can Avoid Being Duped

This book investigates the science behind “big liars”—those rare people who use lies as their principal way of navigating life.

Most people are mostly honest, most of the time. And there aren't that many big, pants-on-fire liars in the population overall. But just a few big liars can have an outsized impact on the people around them--ruining personal relationships, bankrupting businesses, and even, when they attain political power, undermining the fabric of society.

Big Liars explores this small but dangerous group through the lens of psychological science. Fascinating new research gives us insight into the nature of dishonesty and dishonest people, explaining who lies, what types of people lie a lot, how often people lie, how big liars are created, how they operate, how we can recognize them, and how we can avoid being victimized by them. This book has crucial implications for mental health treatment, as well as our efforts to grapple with the effects of big liars—and their big lies—on social movements and society as a whole.

Christian L. Hart, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Psychological Science graduate program at Texas Woman’s University. He holds an MS and PhD in Experimental Psychology and has been a professor for almost 20 years. He teaches courses in deception and forensic psychology and conducts research primarily on lying and deception. He is also the former President and current Executive Director of the Southwestern Psychological Association. Prior to becoming a professor, Dr. Hart held the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U. S. Navy, where he served as an Aerospace Experimental Psychologist and taught at the Navy Test Pilot School. 

Drew Curtis, PhD, holds a BS, MA, and PhD in counseling psychology and is currently an associate professor of psychology and director of the counseling psychology graduate program at Angelo State University. He serves as the President of the Southwestern Psychological Society. Dr. Curtis has established and oversees the Clinical Science and Deception lab at Angelo State University. His research has primarily been the intersection of deception and health care, and he has specifically focused on understanding pathological aspects of lying. Dr. Curtis has presented on a theoretical basis for understanding pathological lying and currently has several research studies examining pathological lying. He has published two books, several papers on deception, and received various research grants and awards for his research.

Chapter 1. Lying: A Brief History
Chapter 2. We All Lie
Chapter 3. How Do Big Liars Form?
Chapter 4. Big Liars
Chapter 5. Big Liars All Around Us
Chapter 6. Big Liars in Relationships
Chapter 7. How They Do It
Chapter 8. Who Are the Big Liars?
Chapter 9. And Then Came the Consequences
Chapter 10. Strategies for Detecting and Dealing With Big Liars
Chapter 11. On Being (More) Honest