Written Component

ABSTRACT

The project is dedicated to the topic of LIES. In general, what is a lie and what is it to lie? Is it good or bad?

Since childhood, we have been heard the same thing: “Lying is bad! You should always tell the truth.” Is that true?

The project consists of a human representation of lies and the concept of fear. People prone to lie when they strive for only one goal - not to reveal the truth, which can harm or bring pain in some way. In the long run, lying is a desire to avoid what a person is afraid of. In other words, fear makes you lie.

Nowadays, the phenomenon of lie and deceit is learned from different angles by many researchers. It is important to notice that the concept of lying varies depending on different cultural and ethical perspectives.

Based on the point of view of sociology, the systems of views and actions inspired by the Higher Reason, through which the main issues of human life are resolved, religious teachings set stable moral guidelines, guided by which people can find a way out of serious life difficulties - including making a choice between truth and falsehood.

The idea is to understand attitude of people to lies from different countries and cultures. The main word here is “Contradiction”. When we say that lying is really bad and when we have to lie about some special circumstances. The project is statistics, research and a game where you can clearly understand how people from different countries perceive lies and whether they can change the stereotypes of “Lying is bad” due to some circumstances.

WIDER CONTEXT

Generally speaking, lying is a form of verbal or tactful deception of others. Nowadays, lying is a part of the behavioral response in communicating to others. It has long been a part of daily life. It is almost impossible to get through at least one day without lies. Lying is a regular feature of the human social behavior. It should be noticed that human beings tend to not realize all the lies that they tell (Fatisha & Sakkeel, 2015, p. 47)..

Lying is considered psychologically exhausting and morally wrong (Choshen-Hillel et al, 2020). Some researchers have examined changes in the language style of both the liar and the honest interlocutor. The analysis showed that people who lie produced more words based on unfounded topics than other people when they tell the truth. In addition, motivated liars are more likely to avoid specific reasons when lying, while people who are afraid of lying are more likely to use denial (Hancock et al, 2008).

It was figured out that most people need a reason to lie. At the same time, there are such reasons in many situations. In one study, participants were asked to roll a die, even though they would receive compensation based on their reported score — the higher the score, the more they were paid. People do not usually lie to their fullest to maintain a moral sense of themselves, but on average they overestimate their results. Thus, the person who got the score of 3 on the die under the cup reports that he got a 5 to increase his winnings. In daily situations where deception is beneficial, lying seems to be commonplace and it takes self-control to overcome it (Choshen-Hillel et al, 2020).

SPECIFIC CONTEXT

A. Vrij said: “Lying is a successful or unsuccessful intentional attempt, made without warning, to form in another person a belief that the communicator considers to be wrong”. But sometimes a lie is not something wrong because we live in a world where every day, we face lies.

There is also such a thing as Lie to the rescue and the reasons for it as follows:

Lies with the aim of evading responsibility (for example, denial by the offender of his guilt)
Lies in order to avoid serious problems that will inevitably follow if you do not resort to lies, but can be prevented by fraudulent means (for example, cheating during a test as a way to avoid a bad grade)
Lying as a way to commit the "lesser of two evils" (for example, lying as a way to avoid participating in a crime).

The attitude to a lie for salvation is ambiguous: in certain situations, it acts simultaneously as a lie for good.

It is often stated that the extent of lies varies depending on cultural background of individuals. By examining the cultural differences in conventional honesty between Italy and Switzerland, two countries with different reputations for honesty and reliability, and using a series of cross-cultural tax compliance checks, it was found that the average rate of tax evasion (as an indicator of common dishonesty) did not differ significantly between doormen and Italians. However, it is not difficult to notice differences in national “styles” of dishonesty. In particular, while doormen are more likely to be completely honest or completely dishonest on their tax returns, Italians are more prone to cheat. How often have you noticed this difference in different cultures and countries? The point here is that tendency to lie or otherwise is highly dependent not only on how a person grew and developed, but also on the society he/she was brought up (House, 2010).

Talking about the installation specifically, it includes several aspects at once that will help to understand the situation of lying in a deeper context. First of all, it is an opportunity to better understand cross-cultural perspectives. Thus, the mindset of culturally diverse people may differ significantly or be similar in its own way. Also, cultural setting of different countries can have varying priorities and beliefs. Secondly, the installation contains conflicting information. As it is known lying has always been something bad for humans, but it was not there. Now the installation reveals the truth - when people actually need a lie depending on their goals. Thirdly, the installation applies a little of psychology. In terms when a person does not immediately answer to a question directly and honestly then he/she might be lying. Thereby, after answering tricky questions the whole truth is revealed. So, the point is that the structure of questions should be developed carefully.

THE WORK

The project is an installation consisting of different printing methods. The statistic that is embedded within the installation is real and it is based on a survey of real people from different countries. It is very important to note that everyone in diverse cultures and countries have their own ideas about lies and their specific prohibitions.

The installation consists of a main printed foamboard, a second board made of transparent plastic that was cut with a laser machine, threads on the board that represent Spider’s Web, four stands that support transparent board and connect it between foamboard and laser cut board, and 90 sticks used as knots to spin the web.

The main board printed on sticky paper with the foamboard. The board includes a main circle - a cobweb that represents a trapping and auxiliary thread that retains the basic statistics of real people.

Nine main countries that took part in the research were highlighted by different colors – threads, that the research has obtained through surveys and interviews of people.

Also, to make it easier for people to understand the game, there is a step-by-step instruction for the game on the main board. Recognition of statistics is designed as easy as possible.

Having five points allow to understand the result more clearly, where one – Strongly Agree and five – Strongly Disagree.

Thus, on the board you can see that the closer the web comes to the middle, the more the person lies. To better understand the reason for the lie, the installation is divided into six categories which include: Money, Love, Family, Fame, Career, Self-Development.

The starting point of the game located above structurer “Web of Lies”, as a player proceeds, he/she slowly moves down in a shape of a circle. Every time a respondent fills in the survey, he/she needs to tighten one dot of five suggested.

The second part of the project which consists of the transparent board was cut with a laser machine. The transparent part of the project is held with the help of the four thick plastic stands and another four thinner plastic stands. The top left side of the transparent board is engraved with icon - “Rules” and the second icon, which is located in the top center on the board – “Country”. The bottom part of the transparent board is engraved with small icons of above mentioned six categories. Lastly, the logo of the project “Web of Lies” is engraved in the top right of the transparent board.

The Practice – Design Rationale

One factor that influences people's decisions to act dishonestly is internal process. This strategy appears both before and after the decision about unethical behavior. Justification before violation allows us to pre-justify and redefine certain behavior without threats to one's self. The excuses after the violation make up for the threat to the moral self, relieving the experienced discomfort associated with the violation. There are certain reasons that people will not behave dishonestly if they have no reason to do so. Therefore, it has been suggested that justification is the main force behind the driving behavior (Jacobsen et al, 2017).

As a rule, a person's personality has a great influence on his behavior. Certain life events and decisions shape the way we think of ourselves as individuals. Some studies have enhanced attempts to influence certain personalities, which, in turn, influence whether people will behave dishonestly or not. A person's personality is usually determined by his religion, culture, past behavior, the specialty he chooses to study at the university. Highly religious and non-religious college students were invited to pilot studies to test whether strong religious beliefs were reflected in harsher moral judgments about dishonest acts and less deception. The results of the study show that students of religion are indeed much harsher in their judgments about dishonest acts. Such people have their own faith and a certain responsibility for their actions because there is also a fear of being overwhelmed with shame. It also works on people from different countries who are supposed to develop in different countries who have different goals, beliefs and priorities.

I tried to use the same practice in the project "Web of Lies". According to both my research and surveys, and external journals and articles, it turned out that the contradictions due to lies are very strong. When it is asked: "Is lie good or bad?", there is the only answer - "Lie is bad." But, everything changes when it comes to personal gain and those circumstances where it is impossible to speak otherwise. "Web of Lies" is divided into 6 categories which include: Money, love, Family, Fame, Career and Self - Development. These are the top six reasons why people can lie without thinking, naturally based on personal preference.

The installation is called "Web of Lies" because based on the initial research it was shown that 7/10 respondents said that when they think about a lie, they represent a web. It is possible and worth thinking that the web is an unpleasant thread, which with each movement of the victim, more and more pulls deeper into the web, moving it closer and closer to the middle. It also works in our daily life. A person begins to lie, after that he/she cannot stop and only digs himself/herself deeper into these threads of lies. It looks very symbolic, given how difficult it is for a spider victim to get out from these webs.

REFERENCES

Choshen-Hillel, S., Shaw, A., Caruso, E. М. (2020). Lying to Appear Honest. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 1-17. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-xge0000737.pdf

Hancock, J., Curry, E. L., Goorha, S., Woodworth, M. (2008). On Lying and Being Lied to: A Linguistic Analysis of Deception in Computer-Mediated Communication. Discourse Processes. 45(1), 1-23. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233045959_On_Lying_and_Being_Lied_To_A_Linguistic_Analysis_of_Deception_in_Computer-Mediated_Communication

Farisha, A. T. P. & Sakkeel, K. P. (2015) Psychology of Lying. The International Journal of Indian Psychology. 2(2), 45-51. http://oaji.net/articles/2015/1170-1427635231.pdf

House, G. M. D. (2010) Lying and Deception. Philosophers’ Imprint. 10(11), 1-22. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/pod/dod-idx/lying-and-deception.pdf?c=phimp;idno=3521354.0010.011;format=pdf

Jacobsen, C., Fosgaard, T. R., Pascual-Ezama, D. (2017) WHY DO WE LIE? A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE DISHONESTY LITERATURE: WHY DO WE LIE?. Journal of Economic Surveys. 32(5), 1-48. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315350548_WHY_DO_WE_LIE_A_PRACTICAL_GUIDE_TO_THE_DISHONESTY_LITERATURE_WHY_DO_WE_LIE [Accessed: 25 November, 2020].