Not All Lies In Love Are The Same: Study Identifies Three Profiles Of Lying Partners

Not all lies have the same intention. New research has revealed that there are three very different types of people who lie in relationships, from those who hide the truth to avoid conflict to those who use deception to manipulate their partner. Discover what psychology and neuroscience show about the reasons why someone lies to someone they love.

Lying is part of human relationships, but not all lies have the same intention. Some people hide the truth to avoid hurting those they love, while others lie to protect themselves or even to manipulate their partner for their own benefit. For a long time, psychology studied lying as a single behavior, without considering that different people may lie for completely different reasons.

Now, new research shows that there are at least three well-defined profiles of people who resort to deception in romantic relationships, and each group presents quite different emotional and personality characteristics.

To reach this conclusion, researchers recruited 567 adults from the United States who were in romantic relationships. They all answered a series of questionnaires about their love life, including how often they lied to their partner and, most importantly, the reasons that led them to hide or distort the truth.

Participants also answered questions about relationship satisfaction, emotional security, fear of abandonment, personality traits and characteristics known in psychology as "dark traits", which include a tendency to manipulation, lack of empathy, impulsivity, excessive search for admiration and pleasure in controlling other people.

Instead of simply calculating averages, scientists used an advanced statistical technique called Latent Profile Analysis. This method works as a tool capable of identifying natural groups of people who show similar patterns of behavior, even if they themselves are not aware of it.

In other words, the computer analyzed thousands of responses simultaneously to discover whether there were psychological profiles hidden behind the different reasons for lying. The result revealed three very distinct groups.

The first group, representing about 38% of the participants, was called "Transparent Partners." These individuals reported rarely resorting to deception, regardless of the situation. In general, they showed greater relationship satisfaction, felt more emotionally secure, and demonstrated fewer manipulative or hostile characteristics. For them, honesty seemed to be a natural strategy for coexistence, even when telling the truth might be uncomfortable.

The second group, accounting for almost half of the sample, was called "Strategic Calming Partners." These participants admitted to lying occasionally, but mainly to avoid conflict, protect their partner from suffering, prevent arguments, or preserve the stability of the relationship.

Although these lies may seem well-intentioned, the researchers observed that they were frequently linked to emotional insecurity and the fear of losing the relationship. In these cases, the brain may interpret any conflict as a significant threat to the emotional bond, favoring decisions aimed at reducing immediate anxiety, even if this involves hiding part of the truth.

The third group, comprising about 14% of the participants, drew the researchers' attention. Dubbed "Antagonist Strategists," these individuals reported lying for virtually every reason assessed, including manipulating situations, seeking attention, avoiding intimacy, gaining personal advantages, or even deliberately harming their partner.

They also exhibited higher levels of traits known as Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism, as well as lower relationship satisfaction and a greater tendency to repeat deceptive behaviors. This suggests that, for some people, lying is not just an occasional strategy, but part of a broader pattern of psychological functioning.

From a neuroscience perspective, these results help to understand that lying involves much more than simply deciding to hide information. Different brain circuits participate in this process, including areas related to impulse control, decision-making, empathy, and emotion processing, such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, insula, and anterior cingulate cortex.

People who lie to avoid suffering may exhibit greater sensitivity to fear and rejection circuits, while individuals with more antagonistic traits tend to show less emotional response to the suffering of others and a greater valuation of personal rewards.

Although this study did not directly measure brain activity, its results are consistent with decades of research showing that personality, emotions, and brain function profoundly influence how we deal with truth within relationships.

The authors emphasize that no one should be labeled based on a single behavior. People may lie for different reasons throughout their lives and in different relationships. Still, the study shows that the motivations behind lying follow relatively consistent patterns and are related to personality, how each individual experiences their emotional bonds, and how they regulate their emotions.

Understanding these differences can help therapists, couples, and mental health professionals address conflicts in a more personalized way, seeking not only to reduce lies but to understand what truly leads someone to hide the truth from those they love.

READ MORE:

Strategic Soothers, Transparent Partners, and Antagonistic Strategists: A Latent Profile Analysis of Romantic Deception

Tim Cole and Kellie Stonebrook

International Association for Relationship Research. May 26, 2026

https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075261456

Abstract: 

The present study used Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to identify naturally occurring patterns of motives for deception among adults in romantic relationships. Participants were 567 U.S. adults who reported on seven deceptive motives, attachment insecurity, dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism), relational satisfaction, and the tendency to deceive. A three-profile solution emerged. Transparent Partners (38.1%) reported uniformly low endorsement of all motives underlying deception. Strategic Soothers (47.6%) endorsed deception primarily for self-protective and maintenance-oriented reasons, whereas Antagonistic Strategists (14.3%) reported elevated endorsement across all motives, including malicious intent, attention seeking, and sexual avoidance. Profiles differed meaningfully in attachment insecurity, antagonistic personality traits, relational satisfaction, and the tendency to deceive, suggesting that deception reflects distinct motivational patterns linked to different personality configurations and relationship experiences. By identifying motive-based profiles, this study offers a more nuanced and ecologically valid account of how and why deception occurs within romantic relationships.