Making Leaders and Mis-Leaders

For many Americans, the words "government official" and "lying bastard" are practically synonymous. Now Colgate University psychologists report that leadership skills and the ability to deceive do, in fact, go hand in hand. And the connection begins earlier than you might think.

The researchers gave preschoolers a drink that was either sweet or tart. Then they asked the kids to say that the drink was sweet--even if it wasn't. The best deceivers, it turned out, were the same kids who had emerged as leaders during an earlier play period. Their superior social skills and ability to manipulate others helped them both lie convincingly and attain top ranking in the playground pecking order, report Caroline Keaating, Ph.D., and Karen Heltman, Ph.D., in Personality and Psychology Bulletin (Vol. 20, No. 3). A second experiment, this time with college students, produced similara results, particularly with men.

So with presidential primary season upon us, a little skepticism might be a good idea. The fact that leaders are masters of deception doesn't mean that politicians actually lie more often than the rest of us, Keating cautions. "But if they did, we wouldn't be able to tell because they are better at it."

PHOTO (COLOR): Richard Nixon