How and why do we lie?A documentary on our ability to be dishonest.

This documentary explores a fundamental human trait — the ability to be dishonest and aims to shed light on the complex relationship we have about honesty and dishonesty.

The documentary is created and narrated by Dan Ariely, a Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University and offers an entertaining, yet thought provoking mix of anecdotal evidence, academic research and current affairs on honesty and dishonesty. The results of lab experiments are presented in a very accessible way to allow the viewers to get a glimpse of how and why we cheat.

In order to reinforce this point, a range of ‘liars’ are being interviewed throughout the documentary on their experiences with cheating and their punishment for it: a cheating wife, a bank trader, a basketball referee, an overprotective mother etc. Their formidable personalities and heart warming stories make their dishonesty appear human and relatable.

On the other side the biggest crises of our society have had dishonesty at their very core, including the financial crisis, the Iraq war, the NSA privacy scandals, the sports doping scandals etc. So in the spectrum of lies from scandalous and disastrous ones to little white lies, the creators asks ourselves… why do we do lie?

This is an accessible take on the complex subject of behavioural psychology by interweaving personal stories, expert opinions, behavioral experiments, and archival footage to reveal how and why people lie.

To find out more about the documentary and purchase it:  http://thedishonestyproject.com/film/, and is also available to watch on Netflix (UK and USA).