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Women lie more about spending

One in six Britons have lied about their debts, a new survey has found. The survey for financial website Fool.co.uk found the number rises to one in four for under 34s.

Nearly a third of people also said they had lied about the cost of a luxury item to make it look more acceptable. Under 24s are most likely to do this, with 43% admitting they told an untruth about a purchase.

One in 10 people admitted trying to hide their financial situation from themselves. They said they purposely don’t open bank statements or credit card bills for fear of what they might find. A fifth of people also admitted that they felt so stressed about their financial situation they just wanted to “disappear”.

According to the survey, women are more likely to lie about how much they paid for something than men.

Psychologist Donna Dawson said: “We lie about our financial problems in order to save face, and to avoid being regarded as greedy, disorganised, naive or out-of-control. Women lie more than men because society has already deemed women to be the weaker sex when it comes to shopping, and no woman likes to be branded with a negative stereotype.”

The survey was carried out by Canvasse Opinion which questioned 1,500 people during September.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .