Are Popular People Generally Good Liars?
Are popular people generally good liars?
This was a question that I overhead some time ago, and It's intrigued me ever since.
Although popular people are often viewed as being nice, easygoing, and likeable, they are seldom (at least not publicly) referred to as being good at lying or deceiving.
But the more I ponder this question, the more I believe that, yes, a lot of popular people are indeed popular because, like any good politician, they have learned to say and do things that endear them to large groups of people.
In other words, popular people are good at impression management, which means they are good social chameleons, experts at conforming to changing social situations.
Popular people are adept at knowing how and when to say things; they are good at packaging themselves in ways that presents themselves in the best possible light.
But the question is, what if their true intentions or beliefs are opposite of their outward expressions?
Does this make them phony? Or does it simply mean they are effective at getting what they want?
On the opposite end, many unpopular people are unpopular because they "speak their mind" and simply "tell it like it is."
Many times the truth does indeed hurt; it truly can offend or repel.
So, I guess the question becomes, is it better to be honest and unpopular or dishonest and phony yet popular?
I'm not sure why this topic intrigues me, but it does. The older I get, the more I realize how so much of social interaction is simply a choreographed set of rituals and roles that we all play and that we constantly adapt and twist to fit different situations.
When Shakespeare said that the world is a stage and that we are simply actors on that state, he was so right!