More intelligent diplomats are more likely to deceive.

Published online April 27, 2017 . doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0176591

Commentary

Since lying is part of personality, are personality traits a factor that makes some people lie more often than others? I propose that it is, and that cognitive ability is equally important. There have been studies that have investigated this question.

Past research has shown that people with higher cognitive abilities are more effective liars. While this may continue to justify the use of lying to solve problems, there are no empirical studies showing this relationship in healthy adults.

The study involved three studies in which participants were given free choice about their honesty, and linked differences in cognitive ability and personality to the probability of lying.

The results showed that both personality and intelligence mattered, with less cooperative and more intelligent diplomats being the most likely to lie.

This suggested that intelligence may mediate the relationship between personality traits and lie frequency.