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People are more likely to tell white lies, or 'prosocial lies', to those they care about to avoid hurting their feelings, researchers have found.
But no matter what the reason, results showed lying is almost always damaging to someone's physical and mental health.
The study by researchers at the University of San Diego Emotion Lab builds on previous research from 2012, which showed honesty also makes us happy.
Researchers found that people are more likely to tell white lies to those that they care about than others. But lying can negatively impact someone's mental and physical health. Experts recommend for people to avoid lying in order to improve their personal relationships
The researchers looked at prosocial lies and how they impact daily life.
Their first study analyzed when people told white lies and their compassion level toward the person who received the lie.
A study from the University of Notre Dame, published in 2012, analyzed lying and how it impacts someone's mental health.
The researchers found that people who were honest with loved ones in their lives were also more likely to be happy.
They studied 110 people over a 10-week period.
The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 71 years.
Half of the group was instructed to not lie for the full 10 weeks while the other group had no special instructions and acted as a control.
Researchers found that people in the non-lying group experienced better physical and mental health than those who were in the control.
Participants in the non-lying group also reported an improvement in their personal relationships over the 10 weeks and better social interactions.
While white lies might be necessary to loved ones who people are more compassionate about, experts recommend avoiding them to improve physical and mental health.
