Why Do Some Guys Overexaggerate? Is It to Impress Others or Boost Their Own Ego?

[TransAm85]

When some guys are around certain people, they change their persona and overexaggerate. Some lie about their home life, career, and even income. I know some women do this too, but I don't, so I just never understood why people have to do this. I have told most people my faults/mistakes - cept my sister in laws - I do not want them to know the truth how I met my husband. Are people ashamed of themselves? My husband even boasts stupidly to some guys how he has guns and a Harley - that he got from me b/c my father passed away and I had to take that stuff! I mean, why can't we just be honest to one another? No one is perfect.

[CrazyGirl2]

OMG! If I knew the answer to this one, I’d be a goddess among women! Some of the exaggerations (or possible ought right lies) I’ve heard are: He wrote an app and is just waiting for some paperwork to come through and he’s gonna sell the company for billions! (But I had to pick him up b/c he didn't have a car). Then there’s the guys who brag that they have already been hired by Microsoft, Facebook, or apple! One guy told me he was a trust fund baby, and then he proceeded to incorrectly explain how trust funds work, i mean total ignorance as to how they work, and how he didn't have a trustee, b/c he had a “special” trust fund! (I happen to be a trust fund baby, and I know EXACTLY how they work”)! One guy told me he sent in a digital video short to Industrial Light and Magic, and they loved it and may make it into a feature.. I grabbed my phone and politely asked him what it was called and who his agent is, since my father is an exec at Disney, and works with ILM, I told him maybe he could help get it in front of the right eyes… suddenly he needed to “do it” on his own!!! (Oh, and you absolutely need an agent to submit anything in Hollywood, w/o an agent they can’t even legally look at whatever you sent)! There was the guy who bragged that if his crypto reaches X, he’ll be a billionaire. Since it’s so close, it’s guaranteed he’ll be a billionaire w/in a year… but he was another one who couldn’t afford a car, so I had to pick him up too! If a guy REALLY wants to impress me… Tell me that he’s a broke college student who is terrified about the future, and he’s afraid that he may never earn enough to pay off his student loans! THAT at least, I’d respect! I always respect truth! But I’ll NEVER understand guys’ contestant, almost pathological need to feel like they really need to impress us on a date, especially the first!

[AmandaYVR]

Because guys especially grow up in a somewhat different culture than girls.

Young boys are told to get up and stop crying when they fall down and get hurt (which they will do a lot because they are much more physical and tend to test their physical limits, and the laws of physics, etc. lol.)

When they are teenagers their friends constantly check each other, crack jokes, deride, and generally abuse each other. It's a right of passage.

When they are in their dating years, they realize that girls their age expect them to be the initiators and show confidence in asking girls out.

In the workplace there is often a subtle, and not so subtle, jockeying for power and responsibility and respect, etc.

Of course there are degrees and levels of all these things, and personality plays a large part in one's responses, but in general, 'dog-eat-dog' applies to the world of men more so than women (women's competition is far more indirect, often subverted, often more underhanded and obfuscated.)

So some men never really grow out of this, or into a more mature phase where they know how to handle themselves, and others, without looking petty, insecure, or jealous. They boast in very obvious ways, such as about sexual conquests, the size of their equipment, or toys. Cars, guns, women... they are all classic markers of masculinity. Most men know this and play a slightly more subtle game, or avoid these obvious displays all together, but many fall right into this hypermasculine image. They believe it empowers them, ranks them as higher status amongst their peers; it doesn't matter if many don't agree. Some do, and that's enough for it to be worth continuing doing.

[20yearsolder]

It's stupidity, it's a combination of both trying to impress others and boost their ego. I don't get it either. If I don't want to tell the details of something I don't. I'm not ashamed to say How I have two gigantic tool boxes full of tools, my father passed away and they were his. I didn't buy them. I would rather people know that these tools mean more to me than just about anything on this planet because they belong to my father

[mandyfire98]

It's to impress others and deep down it's probably because they don't actually like themselves and like the version they're pushing more.

[exitseven]

some guys have not achieved very much and want people to think they are better than they really are.

[FilmGuy93]

Oviously it's a mix of both. Insecure people do insecure things.

[Anonymous]

Same reason women wear makeup or get fake tits.. To over inflate their value.

[Anonymous]

Same reason why women do it. A women could care less about you. Then when another girl talks to you she gotta get all up in the conversation. 🤣

[spartan55]

This is certainly not unique to just guys.

[TransAm85]

I've seen it more so in men. Women do stuff to impress their significant other majority of the time. Sure, there's competition between us, but it's not to such an extreme to lie. Wealthy and famous people do that shit.

[spartan55]

Whatever you say.

[pizzalovershouse]

Cuz of ego most likely

[maximumpower]

1) Impress others.
2) Cover poor self esteem.