The Liar’s Projections

You know the scenario: a couple of people are arguing. You listen in trying to discern who is being truthful. You hear different versions of events, and oftentimes, you are totally confused where the truth lies. One is accusing the other of lying, but you aren’t sure who lied.

Then if you are involved in the conflict, that person may start calling you a liar, too! Or if you are not involved other people become liars! BAM! Hotspot.

Sometimes everyone becomes a liar…but the person who speaks the loudest and throws the most accusations. 

What is going on? Have you experienced this before?

When one person starts accusing everyone else of lying while defending their honesty, they are actually indirectly pointing the finger back at themselves. 

It’s a form of psychological projection.

In projection, the liar is projecting their behavior onto others as a defense mechanism, whether it be consciously or subconsciously. And it doesn’t stop with accusing people of being liars as their projection. They may expand their accusations to include many of their negative behaviors–behaviors they, themselves, can’t own.

I always take notice of this behavior. I ask myself is there truly an injustice of great proportion (usually not), or am I witnessing projection?

It’s very rare that one person is honest and everyone else is lying–essentially ganging up against one party unfairly or by being mislead. People in groups are usually more aware and honest. It happens, of course, but I’d say less than 1 in 100 scenarios. And in those situations it usually involves confusion caused by a few with malicious intent, rather than malicious intent by many.

Projection is often done by people who have insecurity issues and can’t look at their own behavior. They are usually never wrong, either.

So next time you see someone accuse multiple people of wronging them and lying, look closest at the person making the accusations as your source of dishonesty.