Truthfulness and trustworthiness?

[upamountain]

Are some types inherently more honest than others? Can some types always be trusted?
I've been in a situation which is like one of those logic puzzles of X always tells the truth, Y always lies and Z alternates between telling the truth and lying.
Trouble is I actually think that nobody has been telling the truth all the time and I'm realising just how rubbish I am at telling whether or not someone is being honest.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

Those who value consistency of thought and feeling, as long as they start off correct, I think would want to remain correct. Truth, I believe, ultimately starts with you and what you choose to believe. As such from there you can start to discern who is both truthful and trustworthy in your own eyes. Saying this, those with aux and doms that are Si,Ti, Fi. This does not exclude the rest, but merely my first thoughts on the question.

 

[Coriolis]

Being truthful vs. lying is a matter of intent. Sometimes, though, honest people are just plain wrong. They tell the truth as they know it, but their information or conclusions are not accurate. A different problem, but a problem nonetheless. For me to find someone trustworthy, they have to be both honest, and have a decent track record for being accurate. I try to be this way myself.

 

[skylights]

i suspect one's type probably has a lot more to do with how and why one lies, more than how likely one is to do so.

me, i am an information leaver-outer. is the information true? well of course. did i present it in a genuine way? quite. was that the full story? nope. as for the why, i lie to get around rules that i find stupid, mostly. i guess anyone reading this can probably sense that i don't really feel much remorse or shame about this, and that's because i am very trustworthy about things that i believe matter.

I'm realising just how rubbish I am at telling whether or not someone is being honest.

ah. yeah. it's certainly difficult, and sometimes i think people themselves aren't even sure when they cross the line, you know? like i know i exaggerate sometimes, and it's not meant to be a lie, but it's not really factual either...

anyway, maybe it would be helpful to have others try to explain what they do? i think my method - which i suspect to be a Fi method - is essentially checking what a person is saying against their tone of voice and general body language - and checking the content of their words against the words themselves. you can kinda tell when someone's not giving you the whole story because their words will be emotionally-laden when the content is not, or vice versa, or if their body language says "i am freaked out" and their words say "i am just dandy." i don't do this consciously, of course, but i consider myself to be a pretty good bullshit detector, and i think this is how i do it.

 

[upamountain]

anyway, maybe it would be helpful to have others try to explain what they do? i think my method - which i suspect to be a Fi method - is essentially checking what a person is saying against their tone of voice and general body language - and checking the content of their words against the words themselves. you can kinda tell when someone's not giving you the whole story because their words will be emotionally-laden when the content is not, or vice versa, or if their body language says "i am freaked out" and their words say "i am just dandy." i don't do this consciously, of course, but i consider myself to be a pretty good bullshit detector, and i think this is how i do it.

Thanks for this. I think I'm quite borderline F/T (and quite borderline S/N also) so maybe that's why I can't just 'tell' most of the time. Or maybe I just expect people to be telling me the truth and feel really let down when they don't.
Any other ideas about how to tell if someone if being honest gratefully received...