Motivation in the act of lying impacts the accuracy in which memories are later recalled, according to the results of a new study.

The study published in the PsyCh Journal explored the motivations behind lying—whether internally driven by personal goals or externally imposed by situational pressures—impact memory processes.

Employing a realistic daily life scenario, the researchers tasked 120 participants with a simulated shopping activity to acquire 10 items without paying. The participants were subsequently categorized into groups based on their motivations (externally because they were told to or internally by choice) for lying when asked about the activity later.

After the activity, participants underwent multiple memory assessments, focusing on the ability to recall the origin of information and recall of to whom information was conveyed. The researchers’ findings showed that individuals who lied for internal reasons experienced greater impairment in source memory compared with those whose lying was externally motivated.

The study not only broadens the understanding of the relationship between lying and memory impairment but may also carry significant implications in legal contexts.

“The findings that lying impairs memory, particularly for contextual source details, suggest that witnesses or suspects who have lied may have greater difficulty accurately remembering forensic details about the crime, such as where, when, and who was involved. This could impact the reliability of their statements and testimony in investigations and trials,” the researchers noted.

The need for further research on motivation and memory errors in real-world scenarios the researchers expressed is warranted and noted that their findings “represent an important step in understanding how different motivations for lying differentially affect memory accuracy."

The researchers reported no financial conflicts of interest.