Emma Levine

So this isn't because Jeff is in compromised physical health.

It's his mental health.

It's his cognitive state, right?

The degree to which we think he can understand and cope with this difficult truth.

Right.

And that's a terribly difficult situation.

It's not that this is easy to handle and it's obvious, but there is a logic to it, right?

A lot of people and healthcare ethicists have written about this.

A lot of people would say, why should we cause this emotional pain to someone who can't truly cope and grieve with it?

There's no necessary value in the information.

Therapeutic fibbing is, I think, a different name for pro-social lying, right?

In this type of situation, in the healthcare setting, right, it's providing false statements and creating false beliefs with the purpose of therapy, emotional therapy, reducing distress, agitation, or suffering.

And it's commonly used in dementia care.

So imagine that your spouse or partner is very, very ill and in the hospital.

And you've cheated on them in the past.

So this is the situation we present to participants.

Should you tell them that you cheated on them?

This is kind of the basic question, but we randomize some details of this vignette.

In one situation, you know that your partner is very likely to recover.

So in this case, about 30% of participants think it's the right thing to do to lie.