George Santos has been accused of being a pathological liar. But what does the term actually mean?

The term “pathological liar” has been thrown around quite a bit as more of George Santos’ life story emerges — information seemingly contradictory to the education and career Santos claimed to have. But pathological lying is closer to a diagnosis of a personality disorder than to a negative personality trait to describe a politician.

Grid spoke to Christian Hart, a professor of Psychology at Texas Woman’s University, about the difference between a person who lies (because everyone does at some point or another) and pathological liars (what Hart has concluded should be a stand-alone diagnosis).

Defining “pathological lying”

Today, pathological lying is not recognized as a stand-alone diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Instead, the term is listed as a potential symptom or criteria for several personality disorders.

That’s something Hart has concluded should change. While the diagnosis is tough to have because it has limited success when treated, Hart hopes that by defining it, there will be more research on effective treatments.

“If pathological lying is always presented as part of some other problem, it might not get the attention that would be necessary to produce research showing efficacious treatment,” he said.

They state that pathological lying should be officially defined as: “a persistent, pervasive, and often compulsive pattern of excessive lying behavior” that lasts for more than six months and impairs a person’s ability to function both socially and at work. The effects of pathological lying cause “marked distress” that poses a risk not only to themselves but to others.

Why we lie and what makes pathological liars different

Hart believes that pathological lying should be talked about the same way we talk about other psychopathologies.

“Whether we’re talking about mood disorders, like depression, or anxiety disorders, we say that they are pathological because they are statistically aberrant,” Hart said. “Usually something is happening a lot or not enough.”

The way, then, to define any psychopathology, including pathological lying, Hart explained, is with four criteria:

Then there is also the “tripartite theory of lying,” which addresses when people lie.

Hart explained that the argument is that people lie (both pathologically and otherwise) if they meet the following three criteria:

Hart argued that pathological liars meet the criteria of the tripartite theory of lying much more frequently than the average person.

“It’s not even where some people tell a little, some people tell a lot, and most people are in the middle,” he said. “It’s the case that most people are way off on the left side of the distribution telling zero or no lies.”

Hart mentioned a study that found that in non-pathological lying groups, the median number was one — meaning people told one lie in a 24-hour period. The pathological liar group, by contrast, the study found, had a median of seven, meaning people lied about seven times as often in the same time period.

At times, it might seem like pathological liars are simply lying for the sake of lying, but that is because we just might not understand the motivation.

Broadly speaking, Hart added, people do not lie unless they have some sort of incentive or motivation. “Lying takes time, it takes energy, it takes effort. People tend not to do things that are effortful unless they’re motivated to do so,” he said, adding that people’s motives are generally consistent, including either a tangible reward like money or status, or something intangible like attention.

Pathological lying might be hardwired

While it is a tough diagnosis to have, with limited success when treated, Hart hopes that by defining it, there will be more research on effective treatments.

“If pathological lying is always presented as part of some other problem, it might not get the attention that would be necessary to produce research showing efficacious treatment,” he said.

And like all personality disorders, Hart said, it’s exceedingly difficult to change. Treatments are aimed at trying to minimize some of the negative behavior.

Currently, Hart said, the most effective treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of talk therapy focusing on changing negative beliefs and attitudes, leading to behavior changes.

But Hart said it can be a “rough road” trying to help people with some of these personality disorders, especially given the fact that they are oftentimes not interested in changing.

The onset of anti-social personality disorder typically occurs before the age of 7. “That’s where we see some pretty compelling evidence that there’s something kind of hardwired in these people’s brains that’s causing them to act this way,” Hart said. “So, they begin exhibiting signs of the disorder in early childhood and continue on through across the life span.”