Well, This Study Says China Is the Most Dishonest Country

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Let's be honest: everyone pulls a Pinocchio once in a while. However, citizens of some countries are spinning tall tales way too often, **cough** China **cough** while others are as honest and true as a good woman in a Hemingway novel. So who's fibbin', and who's tellin' it straight?

Well, a recent study by the University of East Anglia tested the honesty of Brazil, China, Greece, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States, Argentina, Denmark, the United Kingdom, India, Portugal, South Africa, and South Korea, asking 1,500 participants participate in two tests: one where flipping a coin paid out for every time the coin landed on heads. When the numbers were tallied, if the amount of "heads" was over 50% for a certain country, that country was deemed "dishonest."

In a second test, participants had to complete a music quiz, promising they wouldn't look up answers on the Internet. As with the other test, participants were told they'd earn money for good scores -- but three of the questions were near impossible to answer. Getting more than one of the impossible questions right led to the participant being labeled a liar.

In the end, the Chinese came out most dishonest overall, ranking no. 1 in lies for the coin flip test and no. 2 for the music quiz. Meanwhile, Great Britain was most honest, with the fewest lies in the coin flip test, and surpassed only by Japan's honesty in the music quiz. The United States, meanwhile, showed mixed results, apparently lying way more during the coin flip test, where Americans scored in the middle of the road. However, in their music quiz, they came in as the third most goodie-goodies, just behind the Great Britain.

Take a look at the full results below and remember George Costanza's life advice: "It's not a lie, if you believe it."

Most Dishonest Countries in Coin Flip Test

1. China
2. Japan
3. South Korea
4. India
5. Brazil
6. Russia
7. Argentina
8. USA
9. Turkey
10. Denmark
11. Switzerland
12. Greece
13. Portugal
14. South Africa
15. Great Britain

Most Dishonest Countries in the Music Quiz

1. Turkey
2. China
3. India
4. Portugal
5. Brazil
6. Russia
7. Argentina
8. Greece
9. South Korea
10. South Africa
11. Switzerland
12. Denmark
13. USA
14. Great Britain
15. Japan

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Kara King is a News Writer at Thrillist and is not lying. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow her at @karatillie.

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