Most research on honesty adopts a dichotomous view that honesty is a crucial moral, socially beneficial value, while dishonesty is seen as unfavorable to others, egotistically yielding personal gain to the dishonest individual. In this theoretical paper, following recent research development, I propose that individuals might have different justifications for honest and dishonest behaviors in close relationships that do not follow this dichotomic view. Drawing from personality and social psychology, I suggest that individuals can justify honesty and dishonesty behaviors based on differing (1) expectations loci, indicating where the expectations towards these behaviors arise from (e.g., self, relational others, and social environment); (2) motives that drive desire or willingness towards honesty and dishonesty; and (3) enacting mechanisms, showing how these behavioral outcomes are enacted (e.g., traits, cognition, and affect). Thus, this paper presents a theoretical model of honesty and dishonesty justifications, proposing that individuals can justify these behaviors beyond what is commonly represented in research, which has implications for our understanding of close relationships.
