why do people lie?

There is only 1 reason to lie and that is to deceive. The motive for wanting to deceive someone is going to vary with who's telling the lie, who they're lying to, what they're lying about..... Sometimes it's to make ourselves look good, sometimes its an effort to protect someone else, sometimes it's just because you don't feel like dealing with the other person if they know the truth.... We all do it from time to time, one way or another. You can lie without saying a word. You can tell the truth and still be lying.

once a lie has been told there can be two alternative consequences: it may be discovered or remain undiscovered. under some circumstances, discovery of a lie may discredit other statements by the same speaker and can lead to social or legal sanctions against the speaker, such as ostracizing or conviction for perjury. when a lie is discovered, the state of mind and behaviour of the lie is no longer predictable.

people lie because they want to cover things. we lie so we can't hurt other people's feelings. we lie because we are bound to make it up to the lost feelings.