Lying, Stealing & Dopamine
The connection between dopamine and lying or stealing is linked to the brain's reward system.
In Episode 76 of the American Psychological Association’s podcast "Speaking of Psychology," Dr. Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael Long discuss their co-authored book, The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, Creativity – and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race, wherein they explore the crucial role of dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for reinforcing rewarding behaviors and motivating us to engage in activities that bring pleasure or satisfy a perceived need.
Dr. Lieberman describes dopamine's primary function as maximizing future resources, which can drive our constant pursuit of more and our dissatisfaction with the present. He states:
I think perhaps the broadest way to describe dopamine is that it's designed to maximize future resources, and we can see that working in ourselves when we're constantly focused on the future—‘I need more. I'm not satisfied. I'm not a good enough person’—rather than just kind of taking a deep breath and saying, wow, look at all the wonderful things I have, the good things I've done. I'm grateful for them. Dopamine doesn't want us to do that. It wants to keep us constantly on the run.
—Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD
The authors explain that because dopamine is “all about the future and making the future better,” its driving focus is the pursuit of pleasure—the key takeaway there being that dopamine is more about the pursuit than the actual present moment experience of pleasure.
Essentially, dopamine excites us into action by making promises about the future that it can't keep. Dopamine fuels our ambition, promising great rewards down the road, saying “f you just do x, y, or z thing, you’ll get some pleasure at the end!” In reality, however, dopamine is literally unequipped to give us this pleasure in any way.
Instead, pleasure as a “present moment” experience is provided by other neurotransmitters of the “here and now,” such as serotonin, certain endorphins, glutamate, and GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid). If we’re not used to practicing engagement with these channels that support our experience of celebrating, enjoying, and/or simply appreciating our actual experiences in the present moment, we will likely struggle and feel unequipped in this area, making it chemically impossible to be happy.
In this way, dopamine is the essence of addiction. It keeps us always on the run and always wanting more.
Mike Long explains this using the example of someone who wants a brand-new TV. The wanting is exciting, and stimulating—it may fuel hours or days of research, going repeatedly online or into stores to check out options and compare prices, all in an effort to find the “perfect” new TV that will improve your life and make all your dreams come true. As soon as the TV arrives, however, things change—“because it's gone from the future to the present, and dopamine can only process the future. When the dopamine shuts down, this can be one of the primary causes of experiencing “buyer's remorse.”
Dopamine sets us up to look forward to the future and to spend our time anticipating, planning, looking forward to, and thinking about things that have yet to occur. This is a different kind of pleasure than experiencing and appreciating things in the present moment—i.e., recognizing that I’m enjoying this water right now, or liking the feeling of my comfy bed, or feeling attracted to the color of your top—and “dopamine is its conductor.”
Dopaminergic actions are any behaviors that directly result in an increase of dopamine. When a person lies or steals, for instance, the thrill of potentially being caught, or of attaining something they want without having to pay for it, or even of “getting away” with the action can be directly experienced by the brain as a dopaminergic action—meaning these behaviors can cause a temporary increase in dopamine levels, which creates a temporary sense of euphoria or satisfaction (key word there: temporary).
This dopamine surge reinforces the behavior and can lead to a desire to repeat it, even if the person knows it's morally wrong. In some cases, individuals may also experience a chemical "high" from successfully getting away with a lie or theft, further strengthening the connection between the behavior and dopamine release. Over time, the brain may begin to associate lying or stealing with this “high,” making it more challenging for the person to resist the urge to engage in these behaviors.
It’s also not uncommon for someone who experiences such a “high” to afterwards feel a subsequent “crash” that can bring them into a place of intense shame and guilt. They might wonder if these feelings mean that they’re a “bad person” or if there’s “something wrong” with them. If a person feels such shame, guilt, or overall distress in response to a dopaminergic action, it can have both a lasting negative impact on their self-esteem as well as further reinforce the continued cycle of damaging behavior, as their system now knows that they can engage in the behavior again as a way to seek out more “hits'“ of dopamine and attempt to self-soothe, even if momentarily.
Unfortunately, the neurotransmitters that unconsciously drive our behaviors are unconcerned with issues of ethics or morality.
The brain rates behaviors based on how much dopamine they produce. So, if earning a million dollars produces more dopamine than earning ten dollars, you're going to go after that big payoff, regardless of the risk or consequences involved. We can, of course, still use different parts of our brains to say, “hey, that's wrong!”, but we have to recognize that at the same time our motivation system is telling us that, logically, it makes more sense to engage in the behavior or to use the drug than to abstain.
Beyond this, any drug that's potentially addictive is going to cause the release of dopamine. In turn, any substance or behavior that causes this dopamine activity is going to be addictive.
When we see the “addict,” from the outside, it seems utterly irrational. Why would somebody destroy their life just so that they can drink? From the inside, though, it's actually very rational, because you have to remember that these circuits were designed by evolution to keep us alive and make us successful. The problem with drugs is, is they give this chemical blast to the dopamine system — almost like a guided missile that causes more dopamine stimulation than natural behaviors.
—Daniel Z. Lieberman, MD
Helping someone with a chemical “addiction” to lying, stealing, or any other such dopaminergic stimuli is a complex issue that will requires a multifaceted therapeutic approach. Some strategies include:
Empathy and Understanding: Start by trying to understand why the person feels the need to lie, steal, or engage in the immoral behavior. There is always a protective root to every behavior we engage in as humans, and working to understand this root cause without judgement can be a key determining factor in behavior change.
Open Communication: Encourage open and honest communication about the person’s feelings and motivations. This can help build trust and establish a supportive relationship. This means that when the person shares details with you about their addictive behaviors, this information should be welcomed and celebrated as vital information you can use to help them heal, not information to be used against them punitively as this will only further increase their shame and the cycle of engaging in short-term, temporary relief from that shame.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): DBT has a strong emphasis on learning and practicing mindfulness skills, which helps improve capacity for present moment awareness and experiencing pleasure as opposed to the pleasure-seeking behaviors driven by dopamine. DBT also provides concrete skills and tools for Distress Tolerance, which can be helpful in supporting a person through the discomfort of changing ingrained behaviors and habits. It can also teach healthy coping mechanisms and alternative ways to experience the "high" they are seeking.
Motivational Interviewing & Harm Reduction: This technique can help the person explore their motivations for change and develop a plan for achieving it. This can also help you discern which Stage of Change the person is currently experiencing, which will allow you to better tailor and attempt effective interventions and/or support. Using a Harm Reduction approach allows us to help people make positive changes without shame, blame, or judgement, to improve their quality of life and overall reduce the possibility for self-harm via their choices and actions.
Support Groups (i.e. Intentional Community): Encourage the person to join a support group, such as a 12-step program, where they can share experiences and learn from others who have successfully overcome similar struggles. We heal in community because human beings are fundamentally social creatures, wired to seek connection, support, and validation from others. Intentional Community can help provide emotional support, shared wisdom, accountability, inspiration, and belonging, by leveraging our innate need for connection and social support and promoting a more holistic and sustainable healing process.
It's important to note that not everyone who lies or steals experiences an increase in dopamine or pleasure from these actions. The relationship between dopamine and addiction or unethical behavior is complex and can be influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, environment, trauma history, and personal experiences.
Listen to the full podcast episode cited in this post or read the full transcript here:
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/dopamine