Does Telling White Lies Damage Your Relationship?
People lie for many different reasons, which can damage your sense of trust with others. While many people do lie, they can be honest most of the time. The majority of the time, people tend to tell more small, white lies than big lies. So, what is a white lie, and does telling them damage relationships?
What Is a White Lie?
A white lie is categorized as a “harmless” lie. It is typically used to protect someone else’s feelings. For example, if you are having dinner with your in-laws, and your mother-in-law asks if you’re enjoying the meal, you might respond with yes, it’s delicious to save her feelings even if you weren’t enjoying it.
White lies tend to be smaller, more trivial lies, and falsehoods. A white lie is a small lie about something harmless or inconsequential.
Does Telling White Lies Damage Your Relationship?
When it comes to relationships, honesty and trust are very important. In a healthy relationship, both partners need to be able to communicate openly and share intimate information in order to strengthen their bond. But can telling white lies harm the relationship?
White lies are incredibly common, even in healthy relationships. So, if you find yourself telling some, it doesn’t mean your relationship is doomed. White lies are all about omitting the full truth to spare someone else’s feelings. Most partners will tell white lies when their significant other is trying their best, and they don’t want to hurt them or knock them down.
It is not a good idea to tell a white lie if it’s about something you have an issue with, or if you want your partner to change it. For instance, if you hate your partner’s cooking, and want them to improve, there’s no use lying and saying you love it.
In addition to this, white lies are damaging when they are about important things such as health problems, romantic feelings, or about something that affects both of you, like the loss of a job, and financial security.
Why Do People Tell White Lies?
Generally speaking, people tell white lies because it typically benefits the person hearing the lie. It is usually to soften the blow, protect their feelings, or prevent them from worrying too much.
For instance, someone asks their partner if they looked like they had gained weight recently, then the partner may say, no, I haven’t noticed, to protect their feelings from getting hurt. Another reason is to maintain social etiquette, manners, and common courtesies.
People also tell white lies in order to maintain relationship stability. They do so to avoid conflict and maintain a sense of harmony in the relationship. Someone may feign interest in something in order to avoid fracturing a relationship.
On the other hand, some people may tell their bosses white lies to avoid getting into trouble or changing their opinion about them. You may tell your boss that you’re happy to come into work on a day off because you don’t want any confrontation or repercussions, when actually you do not want to come into work.
Additionally, getting into the habit of telling white lies frequently can open up the door for more serious lying in the future. It inadvertently makes dishonesty the norm. Some may even use it for their own benefit to make people think of them more positively, even when they know they’ve done something wrong that would upset the other person.
In summary, if white lies are used for deception, it will be damaging to the relationship. If your lie benefits you to cover up something, then this is deceptive.
That being said, it is always better to be open, honest, and not withhold any information or feelings from your partner when you are in a relationship. Communication is the key to a healthy relationship.
