To be honest is a socially highly valued attitude. Since children we are taught to avoid lies, but also from children, we are taught to lie. We have learned that certain lies can give us interesting benefits and that in the end they rarely discover us, so they end up being a good choice.
To be honest is not to commit “Sincericide”, that is to walk in life ventilating the truth without filter. In such cases, it may not really be the intention to tell the truth, but to use it to commit an act. aggression, vanity or simply to release anger, justified under the pretext of sincerity.
“Words touch the heart when they come out of the heart. -Rabindranath Tagore-
In general, however, sincerity is not only a great virtue, but it also has great advantages. Relationships with others improve markedly when we are sincere. We also receive sincerity in return and do not lead to misunderstandings. But also, be honest. It’s also something that positively affects our health. Here are three reasons for that.
An investigation by psychologist Robert S. Feldman of the University of Massachusetts found that people lie on average once every ten minutes of conversation, and also concluded that the main reason people lie is to seem friendlier and/or more competent than they really are. , to arouse the taste or admiration of others.
On this basis, other experts have pointed out that this type of lie fulfills the role of hiding the reality of some people, the reason is that, deep down, they find their life and their way of being une interesting and unworthy to be considered by others. .
The curious thing about all this is that authenticity is one of the most appreciated and admired traits, which means that the more sincere a person is, speaking of himself as he is, the greater his chances of provoking sympathy and admiration in others. The effect is that all this contributes to greater self-esteem and this is reflected in the cycle: more sincerity, more acceptance, more self-esteem.
The problem with telling a lie is that it leads to an endless cycle of lies. If you say you’re a rock star, you’re going to have to make up a hundred more lies to make it believable. The worst thing that can happen to him is to be caught on the spot.
So, not only will you have to rely on a good imagination, but you’ll probably also have to spend a lot of time trying to make your speech coherent so you don’t get caught up in the lie. You’ll also need a good memory, so as not to fall into contradictions.
This requires huge emotional expenses that sooner or later result in stress and anxiety, it is good to keep the alert mechanisms so as not to get tangled up and further increase the level of tension.
When you’re honest, you never have to carry that much weight, you don’t have to build explanations or take the time to decorate your version with details that make it plausible, this allows you to be more relaxed and act more naturally, which avoids the huge expense of emotional energy you need for other, more important things.
Dr. Anita E. Kelly, professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Templeton Foundation, has conducted research to study the effects of sincerity on health.
To do this, he obtained 72 volunteers and divided them into two groups: one was instructed to be strictly honest in all his conversations, while the other was given no guidance, those who had to be honest could not even lie about minor or seemingly insignificant issues. This exercise lasted five weeks.
During the duration of the investigation, the health of volunteers in both groups was monitored, while weekly polygraph testing was performed, once the experiment was completed, there was a clear difference in the health of those who were sincere and those who were lying.
The former had fewer headaches, sore throats, nausea and dizziness, while the latter maintained these symptoms without any change.
The results encouraged the researcher so much that she herself decided to be completely honest during the winter period, noted that she needed to sleep fewer hours to feel good and that colds, which always affected her during cold seasons, simply disappeared.