Sometimes, deception is used in Social, Behavioral and Educational Research (SBER) in order to obtain accuracy information. In general, deception is not acceptable in human studies. Occasionally, it is necessary to mislead the participants who are subjects of a study in order to obtain unbiased information.

Deception in psychological research is often stated as acceptable only when all of the following conditions are met: 1) no other nondeceptive method exists to study the phenomenon of interest; 2) the study makes significant contributions to scientific knowledge; 3) the deception is not expected to cause significant …

(a) Psychologists do not conduct a study involving deception unless they have determined that the use of deceptive techniques is justified by the study’s significant prospective scientific, educational, or applied value and that effective nondeceptive alternative procedures are not feasible.

Pathological lying, also known as mythomania and pseudologia fantastica, is the chronic behavior of compulsive or habitual lying. Unlike telling the occasional white lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or getting in trouble, a pathological liar seems to lie for no apparent reason.

Pathological liars tell compulsive lies without a clear motive. This type of lying is different than nonpathological lying, where the lie is often beneficial in some way. Lying is a common feature of social interactions among humans. This behavior even occurs in some animals, such as monkeys.

Pathological lying is a symptom of various personality disorders, including antisocial, narcissistic, and histrionic personality disorders. Other conditions, such as borderline personality disorder, may also lead to frequent lies, but the lies themselves are not considered pathological.