As DePaulo and Bell conclude, not only are we “practitioners of politeness,” we are especially likely to lie when the other person is personally invested in whatever it is we’re giving them feedback about. Because we don’t want to upset the social apple cart, we politely accept the “face” people present to the world (that is, who we think they think they are) and avoid putting forward information that may challenge it—even if doing so would ultimately be useful.
