The current Forbes offers up some interesting theories as to why men and women lie—especially when it comes to that hall-of-mirrors world of online dating.  With apologies to Jane, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that a single man will lie about his height and salary, while a single woman will often lie about their age.  But why?  Well, according to Dennis Reina, author of Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace, men, culturally, are more concerned with their professional status, women their social status.

The playing field’s pretty even (now) when it comes to issues of extramarital affairs and money.  Regarding the later, though, men tend to lie about, “bad investments or financial decisions, while women (even if they make as much or more money than the man) will misrepresent their buying habits.”

But there’s also, perhaps, in play here a biological component.  Regarding women who alter their appearance with push-up bras and Botox, Mark Frank, a communications professor at the University of Buffalo, suggests, “these small deceptions might be necessary for procreation and social survival.  A tiger has stripes that coat its back and blend it into the high grass.  It doesn’t wake up one day and say, ‘Shall I put on spots?’” 

Hmm…comparing “deceptive women” to tigers.  Hey, Dr. Frank: maybe there’s a psychology professor down the hall?

In Forbes: He Lied, She Lied

Bonus: The Knickerbockers’ Lies