We usually experience the first taste of the lie as children. It's at an early age that we learn to test, manipulate and thus learn deceit. We test to see what we can get away with and when we reach the limit, for some reason our back end starts to sting and it hurts to sit down. At early ages, and during these testing periods, we may see our lies put in check by parents or we may see that we are so sly that we have honed our skills well. For the average person with good social skills we either outgrow the thrill or we learn that it is outside the realm of social norms to lie. Some may learn through religious beliefs and seek to not lie cheat and steal. However through all of this, we still lie on some level.
At about the age of 8 years old I went to school with a kid that was always flashing money at the lunch line. I got this bright idea one day to take a little extra lunch money one morning from my Dad's slacks that lay over the couch as he was just waking. We wished each other a good morning and he told me to take a few bucks for lunch, which I did, plus another 20. As I went off to school I could think of nothing but flashing my newly found crisp greenery at the mocking kid at lunch. Little did I know at the time, when my Dad awoke he would remember that he went to sleep with more money that he woke up with. As you may imagine Dad came to school, before lunch, and confronted me about the money at the principle's office, I denied any wrong doing. When asked to empty my pocket I took the 50/50 chance and chose the wrong one, thus producing the $20 bill. I'll save the rest for another story but it turns out that the kid whom I was so intent on one-upping was sick that day. Lesson learned, and Dad was so amused by my story, and the fact the kid was out sick that day, that he let me slide with lesson learned, no more lying, or stealing.
Why people "like" to lie is simple, for the gains they can receive. Public figures lie to get what they want, it's purely and solely a soulless and selfish action. Some lie because they put themselves in a corner in a web of lies and can't escape. Some tell lies for contrasting reasons ranging from self preservation to protecting another's feelings. We all do it whether it's withholding thoughts for the betterment of others or because some things are better left unsaid.
In serious intimate relationships we typically get to know what the other's boundaries are and sometimes, like children we may again choose to test them like we did with our parents. As we know in life, it takes two to Tango in most cases, save the unilateral decisions. In intimate relationships and marriages we tend to seek a trusting mate and seek to be as sure as possible that we won't be lied to. In this quest, sometimes one mate can attach so many strings that the other feels guarded or chained. When this happens there is a higher incidence that the pent up person will omit disclosing his or her activities during the day. There may be no malicious intent at all, but the one being held down feels that if the whole truth were known, the other may procure a confrontation. This leads to subtle and subconscious omissions which may lead to outright lying just to save time, trouble and misery which can lead into the above described mentally. What they don't know won't hurt them. Before you know it, a small omission or little lie can psychologically turn into a flagrant sin against your partner.
We also lie to our children and when they grow up, they know this fact. It's a strange turn of events to consider how we lie about Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny and other furry and fantastical characters. As I spoke of earlier, hopefully our kids can understand that we lied for their pleasure, yet what does that teach them? A lie is constructed on many different levels and the term alone does not typify malicious deceit.
The lie is made up of multilevel conscious actions which, if thought of, can be broken down into several levels.
The deceitful lie for personal own gain.
The omission of information to save a useless argument in a relationship. ( I had lunch with an old high school friend which lead to nothing).
A lie to the children. ( Yes he's your real Dad, etc.) Being funny here but you know what I mean.
But mostly we lie on levels that protect another. The wife does NOT look fat in that dress or the soldier in our arms that just got shot will NOT die.
The lie has been with us since childhood and will be with us until the end. What must be realized is that a certain level of lying will forever be intertwined with our psyche, through relationships and with society.