George Santos Syndrome: Is the Embattled Congressman a Pathological Liar?

George Santos has been making headlines lately due to his legal battle. He was charged in New York with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements paving the way for a condition many called "George Santos Syndrome."

The George Santos Syndrome

The Republican congressman from New York who had just been elected wasn't who he claimed to be. With a degree from New York University and prior employment at CitiBank and Goldman Sachs, Santos presented himself as a seasoned financial professional and entrepreneur. He asserted a connection between 9/11 and his mother's passing. He made the implication that his Jewish ancestors had survived the Holocaust. However, there was no information about him at NYU, Goldman, or CitiBank. In 2001, his mother was in Brazil. By all accounts, his grandparents were Catholics from Brazil. Although Santos has since acknowledged "fiddling with his resume," he still insists that he is of Jewish ancestry and that his mother was in the World Trade Center on 9/11. I continue to be convinced that's the case, he said.

Politics has a long history of using lies and deception. It's easy to regard such politicians as essentially cynical, as Machiavelli argued in the 16th century, that sometimes a leader needs to operate as a "great pretender and dissembler." They appear to lie in a Machiavellian effort to gain control and power. That's true a lot of the time, without a doubt. According to cognitive research, you can believe your falsehoods, which raises the potential of something even more unsettling being at work. According to an experimental study that sheds light on the nature of memory, your knowledge of the truth may slant over time. Lies may seem true to you because they have that effect. You're not tricking people anymore. Your brain is tricking you instead.

According to cognitive psychologist Quin Chrobak, a lie or fabrication that justifies anything is more likely to be mistaken for what is real. He claimed that people are vicious creatures. We "love to fill in the gaps" when we don't have an explanation for something because we "love to know why things happen."

Chrobak suggested that our urgent human need to fill those voids can also be related to our opinions of ourselves. Santos informed reporters after being charged with 13 crimes that he thought he was innocent.

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Is George Santos a Pathological Liar?

Research psychologist Christian L. Hart of Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas, spoke about Santos. According to him, many are interested in labeling the embattled politicians, and one of the labels that stuck is "pathological liar."

However, he noted that the term is used broadly in our culture. Many used it while referring to individuals who lie a lot. But, he said, that lying has been epidemic these days.

Psychologist Drew Curtis of Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, added that their study showed that pathological liars show remorse. Hart isn't sure if that's the same case with Santos.

The politician admitted that he tends to massage the truth. However, he also claimed that "I've been a terrible liar" while defending parts of his interview with Piers Morgan.

Santos was criminally charged on 13 counts - the federal indictment included fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements. He pleaded not guilty.

His indictment will not lead to his removal from office.