The Truth About Why Women Lie

Why do women lie? And does it matter whether it's a little white lie or an outright deception? Gayle talks to Susan Shapiro Barash about her book Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets and about what causes women to lie.

Susan says today's world forces women to lie. "I think that women lie not only more cleverly [than men do] but more often because in our society women are held to such a standard, and a lot of times, they have something to cover up." Susan says women are lying about their feelings, not just their behavior. "My theory is they use it as a survival technique and do it because they have been very good at doing it for so long," she says.

Susan says she wrote the book not to approve or disapprove of the act of lying, but to show that lying is becoming a big part of women's lives. "I wrote it as an exploration—I neither condemn nor condone [it]," she says. "I just note the way that women live their lives in this country and what they need to do to feel they aren't disempowered."

Susan shares a few different types of lies commonly used by women:

• Compassionate lie: An example of this type of lie is when you tell your friend she looks good when, in fact, she probably needs a facelift, Susan says. "It is when you say, 'I do this to not hurt your feelings,'" she says.
• Survival lie: In this case, you are lying to preserve yourself, saying, "I am nothing without this lie." Types of survival lies include paternity lies and lies about love.
• Betterment lie: A betterment lie is a lie told to improve the situation, Susan says. "It's a way to protect you or someone else close to you," she says. "The only danger is when it becomes too layered of a lie."