Are Americans the Biggest Bullshitters in the World?

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has a recurring segment called “Lie Witness News” that is both hilarious and disturbing. A Kimmel staffer positions himself on a sidewalk in Hollywood and asks passersby, usually tourists, to comment on events that never happened.

In a recent segment, the staffer asked people if they had been watching the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which begin next month. A surprising number of people said yes. One man, when asked about Caitlyn Jenner competing in the decathlon, said, “I think it was amazing. It’s a big step forward for women across America… that someone like her could compete at such a high level.” A woman said she had been watching figure skating, an event that is not part of the Summer Olympics. A man claimed to have watched Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt win a close race. (Bolt retired from international competition in 2017.)

In the Oscars edition of "Lie Witness News," people shared their thoughts about the awards show, which hadn’t happened yet. When asked where she watched the show, a young woman said, “On my computer, with some of my friends. We did like a Zoom thing and watched it together.” Another woman admitted that she got emotional when Sacha Baron Cohen brought Rudy Giuliani on stage and hugged him.

When I watch "Lie Witness News," I can’t help but wonder if Americans are the biggest bullshitters in the world. In Hollywood at least, it seems remarkably easy to find people who are willing to make up phony details on the spot in exchange for a brief (and presumably embarrassing) appearance on late-night TV.

A Study of Bullshitting in Nine Countries

In 2019, economist John Jerrim at University College London and colleagues published a study that examined the prevalence of bullshitting among 40,550 high school students in nine Anglophone countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. The students, all of whom were 15 years old, were randomly selected to participate in PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment (Jerrim, Parker, & Shure, 2019).

The students completed a standardized test of science, math, and reading achievement. They then considered a list of 16 mathematical concepts and indicated how much they knew about each concept. They indicated their familiarity on a 5-point scale ranging from “never heard of it” to “know it well, understand the concept.”

Thirteen of the terms listed were actual mathematical concepts such as quadratic function and cosine, but three of them—proper number, subjunctive scaling, and declarative fraction—do not exist. Students who claimed to know and understand the bogus concepts were labeled bullshitters.

The researchers discovered that, on average, high school students in Canada and the United States had significantly higher bullshit scores than students in Australia, New Zealand, and England. The students in Australia, New Zealand, and England had significantly higher bullshit scores than students in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Scottish students had the lowest scores of all.

The researchers also discovered that (1) in every country, boys were much more likely than girls to be bullshitters; (2) in every country, students from affluent families were bigger bullshitters than students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and (3) bullshitters displayed more confidence in their problem-solving and mathematical skills, even after controlling statistically for different levels of academic achievement.

Making Sense of the Findings

For some reason, Jerrim and his colleagues made little effort to explain their intriguing findings. Why do Americans and Canadians bullshit more than people in other English-speaking countries? Why do boys bullshit more than girls? What should we make of the fact that wealthier students are bigger bullshitters than poorer students?

I must admit to being stumped about the reason(s) why American and Canadian teenagers are the biggest bullshitters. Maybe they think it's no big deal because they've seen so many exaggerated claims on Facebook and Instagram. They've also learned that politicians and celebrities can become famous and remain successful, even as their lies and fraudulent claims are exposed.

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The fact that boys bullshit more than girls could be explained by precarious manhood theory, which states that manhood is an achieved social position that is hard to earn and easy to lose (Vandello & Bosson, 2013). As a result, teenage boys and men are motivated to prove their worth by posturing, boasting, and making unwarranted performance claims. In other words, bullshitting.

Personally, I’m disinclined to use the term “bullshitters” to describe the boys and girls in the PISA study who falsely claimed to be familiar with non-existent mathematical concepts. In my view, bullshitting involves more than telling a simple lie; it requires inventiveness and sustained effort. Bullshitters often shrug and grin when caught in their lies, which suggests they care little for the truth. The people featured in "Lie Witness News" are genuine bullshitters.

In the PISA study, some students claimed to understand a concept that doesn’t exist, but they didn’t elaborate on their lie. They didn’t make up nonsensical details to bolster their fraudulent claim. Some of them might have become full-fledged bullshitters if given the chance but, unlike the stars of "Lie Witness News," they didn’t have an opportunity to double down on their dishonesty.

Are Americans the biggest bullshitters in the world? Arguably yes, at least in the English-speaking world. We won’t really know, of course, until researchers study bullshitting in many other nations. But given what we know about relative levels of modesty and the importance of saving face in other cultural groups, I won’t be surprised if Americans come out on top of the B.S. pile.