Every lie makes the next easier: why Sarah from the Belgian 'De Mol' was a perfect saboteur

What makes someone a good liar?

'A good liar is creative, charismatic, physically attractive and can speak fluently,' says Van der Zee. 'They also often have less empathy, which means that feelings of guilt and stress play less of a role in them.' It was precisely these characteristics that seemed to make Sarah the ideal mole in the Belgian reality game show.

Although it is often thought that women lie better than men, Van der Zee found no difference between the sexes in how often or how convincingly they lie in her research with 697 test subjects. The motives do differ: women lie more often to maintain social peace, men more often out of self-interest.

The mental toll of living a lie

Lying itself also turns out to be mentally tough. Playing a double role for weeks, as in “De Mol”, can lead to stress, isolation and even identity problems - comparable to the impact of undercover work for the police or intelligence services. ‘As a mole, you have to build a wall and become alienated from the group,’ Sarah confirms in an article in the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN). ‘Not having to lie anymore, that takes some getting used to.’

According to Van der Zee, the makers of “De Mol” are therefore better off not looking for one gender, but for personality traits that make lying easier. And yes, practice makes perfect. ‘Every lie makes the next one easier,’ she concludes. ‘Those who lie often lower that threshold even further — until the truth is no longer self-evident.’