[DagoIgnog]

Americans lie an average of 11 times per week. This can take a toll on one's relationships, physical health and mental health.

A study by Anita Kelly and Lijuan Wang of the University of Notre Dame looked at lying and quality of life. Over a ten-week period of time, two groups of subjects were asked weekly, while being given lie detector tests, how many lies they had told. One of the groups was encouraged to stop telling major and minor lies for the ten weeks.

Both groups ended up lying less over the course of the study, which is not surprising; when you focus your attention on something you are much more likely to improve your behavior around it. For example, if you weigh yourself regularly you are more likely to lose weight; if you carry a pedometer to measure the number of steps you take, you are more likely to take more steps.

Those in the group encouraged to not lie told fewer lies than the other group, though. The important element of this is that in any given week when people lied less, they also reported that their physical and mental health was better and that their relationships were better.