9 behaviors that show you’re a truly honest person

Being a truly honest person is somewhat of a rarity. Choosing to tell the truth over little white lies isn’t always the easiest option.

Especially when the lie saves us money or gets us out of a sticky situation.

But lying doesn’t always feel good, especially not for the people around us.

When you’re a more honest person, you can find yourself having better trust in your relationships and more openness in your friendships.

If you want to know whether you’re truly an honest person, keep reading to learn the top 9 behaviors that you’ll most likely have.

1) You pay people back (even when the other person has forgotten)

I’m sure we’ve all experienced it when we owe someone money and later find that they’ve completely forgotten about it (or at least it seems that way).

Sure, you could keep quiet and hope to get away with pocketing their $20.

Especially if you’ve asked for their bank details or Venmo once before and they forgot to send them to you.

But if you know that not paying them back isn’t right, and you pester them until they give you their bank details, then you’re all good.

Because you’re a very honest person – and your friendships are probably so much better for it.

2) You say sorry often

Truly honest people know that sometimes they are wrong and sometimes apologies need to be made.

This could show in how you apologize for the small and big things.

Like sticking to your guns in an argument only to be proven wrong later, to something more serious, like cheating on your partner.

Either way, you probably find yourself saying sorry pretty often if you’re a truly honest person.

3) You fess up to mistakes

Another sign that you’re an honest person is if you fess up to your mistakes.

You tell people things even when you know you could probably get away with it.

No matter how bad they are or how severe the consequences could be for you.

Like at work, if your boss is blaming someone else for a mistake you made, and you know the other person probably won’t find out, you fess up to it anyway.

Or if you’ve cheated on your partner while on vacation, you tell them about it, even though they may never know otherwise.

Because the lies would eat you up inside.

4) You tell people if they’ve made a mistake

Another behavior of an honest person is telling people when they’ve screwed up.

And not in a nasty way. In a way that’s helpful to them or sacrificial to you.

Like if a colleague messed up in their calculations and you point it out to them discreetly before a big meeting to prevent embarrassment on their behalf.

You don’t leave it be and let them take the fall, so you can pick up the pieces and get ahead.

Or if the cashier gives you the wrong change, you let them know and give it back.

You don’t keep quiet and exit quickly, letting them take it from their paycheck later.

5) You tell the truth if someone asks for your opinion

Another sign you’re an honest person is if you tell the truth when someone asks for your opinion, no matter how hard that truth may be.

This doesn’t mean you’re harsh or critical. And hopefully, you say the truth with tact and empathy so as not to hurt their feelings too much.

But you’ll be honest about whether their haircut is actually nice, or if their shirt is, in fact, too small for them now and should be donated.

You’re also probably the person your friends come to when they need an opinion.

And not just any old opinion. A “real ones” opinion.

Like if the wedding dress they want actually suits their body type.

Or if they should break up with their boyfriend (eesh).

Because they know they can rely on you to be straight and tell them the truth.

6) You don’t exaggerate

Bending the truth is relatively easy to do.

After all, no one will really know what the other person said in an argument. Or how much you really spent on that new dress.

But exaggerating, no matter how harmless it seems, can be more stressful than simply telling the truth.

While it’s nice to make a story sound more interesting than it was, keeping up with the fabricated story can get confusing.

Truly honest people know that exaggerations are problematic in a similar way to lying.

And they just don’t do it, no matter how tempting it may be.

7) You don’t make excuses

Honest people don’t make excuses. They don’t lie about why they can’t attend something or go somewhere.

Or if they’re interested in dating someone or not.

If you don’t want to go to that event your friend invited you to, you tell them it’s not your thing.

You don’t make an excuse and say you have other plans, because they’ll only invite you when it comes up again.

Likewise, if you don’t want to go on a second date because you’re not interested, you don’t ghost the person or beat around the bush.

You tell them straight up you’re not into it, so they can move on and find someone who is.

Similarly (in case you need another example), if you don’t want to see your boyfriend/girlfriend tonight because you need a night to yourself, you don’t tell them you’re sick or lie about having other plans.

You tell them what you need because good communication is important for a relationship to work.

And, of course, you’re a very honest person!

8) You keep promises, even when it’s really hard

Promises aren’t legally binding. But they mean a lot to people.

Saying the words, “I promise” after telling your friend, partner, brother, or sister that you’ll do something for them is a serious thing for many people.

It’s something they remember and something they (usually) will hold you to.

If you’re an honest person, you don’t throw those words around lightly.

And you know that if you’ve promised someone something, you’ll keep that commitment

Even when it gets really, really hard to do that. Because your integrity always wins.

9) You don’t omit information

Not telling someone something isn’t the same as lying. But it’s also not really telling someone the truth either.

It’s a gray area, for sure. But, either way, it’s not something an honest person does.

If you’re a truly honest person, you’ll be transparent about things.

You don’t try to get away with anything on a technicality.

Like if you’re on a date and the person asks if you’ve ever been married. While you haven’t been married, you’ve been engaged twice.

But you simply answer no. Because they didn’t ask if you’d been engaged, only if you’ve been married.

While it’s not exactly lying, a truly honest person would say, “No, but I’ve been engaged twice”.

Because honest people know the similarities and they have no issue being truthful about their past – especially when they know it could be important later.

Final thoughts

Being an honest person can be so important for your relationships.

The ability to truthfully share how you feel and state your needs can create true trust in relationships, according to experts.

But of course, there’s good honesty and bad honesty.

Telling your girlfriend their haircut makes them look like their 70-year-old grandpa probably isn’t going to make them feel good.

But if they ask for your honest opinion on whether their wedding dress is really the right one for them and you say, “Perhaps not, but it’s your choice”, you can almost guarantee your friend will appreciate hearing the truth.

If you want to be a more honest person, trying out some of these things is the best way to go.