How to detect liars

Recognize the Signs of Lying

7 Ways to Spot a Lie: Recognize the Signs of Lying

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Medically reviewed by Scientific Advisory Board — By Kurt Smith, PsyD, LMFT, LPCC, AFC on April 27, 2017

Whether you are talking to your child, a spouse, co-worker or friend, you may find yourself questioning their genuineness and wondering from time-to-time if they are telling the truth.

Whether it’s debunking a little white fib or uncovering a large-scale lie, it is important to be able to tell when people are not telling the truth.

Here are seven ways to spot a lie:

Examine body language When someone is lying, his or her body language can often give you a clue. They may have fidgety hands or hide their hands completely. They could shrug their shoulders and not stand tall, or they may make their bodies appear smaller so they feel less noticeable. Watch for these physical signs to gauge if someone is being honest with you.

Watch facial expressions When people are in the middle of a lie their facial expressions may show you. Look for flared nostrils, lip biting, rapid blinking or sweating. These changes in facial activity signify an increase in brain activity as a lie begins. Some people will get a slight flush to their face when they are lying, so look for blushed cheeks as anxiety may set in.
Pay attention to tone and sentence structure When people lie their speech tone and cadence may change. They could start speaking with a higher or lower tone than normal, and either speak more slowly or rapidly. Their sentence structure may become more detailed than usual, including very specific information. This again is their brain working in overdrive.
Look at mouth and eyes Someone who is lying may cover their mouth or eyes with their hands, or close them altogether. Both of these come from a natural tendency to want to cover a lie.
Listen to how they refer to themselves People who are lying tend to avoid using the words “I” or “me” when they are in the midst of a lie. Sometimes they will speak about themselves in the third person by saying things like, “this girl.” This is how they mentally distance themselves from the lie.
Have all the answers Usually when you ask someone a question, such as “what did you do this weekend?”, they have to pause for a moment and think about it. When an individual is lying, they often rehearse their answers, so they are prepared in their responses and don’t have any hesitation. It can be a dead giveaway if they have immediate answers to everything without pausing to think.
Trying to prove their honesty When people are honest, they usually expect that you will believe them. If someone says phrases such as “to be perfectly honest” or “I swear I’m telling the truth” that could clue you in that they are lying. Honest people don’t feel the need to convince you of their honesty.

If you pay attention to people’s body language, facial expressions, how and what they are communicating, you can become pretty good at spotting lies. Whether you are dealing with someone who is a pathological liar, or your teenage son who is trying to weasel out of a punishment, it can be helpful to know when someone is likely lying to you.

Last medically reviewed on April 27, 2017

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Medically reviewed by Scientific Advisory Board — By Kurt Smith, PsyD, LMFT, LPCC, AFC on April 27, 2017

How to tell if someone is lying to you, according to researchers

If you claim that you never lie, well, you’re a liar.

Those little white lies are slipping out more often than you realize: One study found that Americans, on average, tell about 11 lies per week. Other research shows that number is on the conservative side. A study published in the Journal of Basic and Applied Social Psychology found that 60 percent of people can’t go 10 minutes without lying at least once. And it gets worse: Those that did lie actually told an average of three lies during that short conversation.

Why do we do it?

In surveying more than 100 psychology graduate students currently or previously in therapy, Leslie Martin, PhD, of Wake Forest University's counseling center, found that of the 37 percent who reported lying, most did so "to protect themselves in some way — mostly to avoid shame or embarrassment, to avoid painful emotions and to avoid being judged. "

60 percent of people can’t go 10 minutes without lying at least once.

You know, like when you’re too tired to go to brunch so you claim you have a stomach bug or you tell your boss you had train trouble when you really just overslept. Then there are the little fibs called pro-social lies which we are taught as kids are harmless. (Telling grandma that you love the new sweater when you actually hate it, or telling your wife she looks great in that outfit, when you actually think she looks a little on the heavy side.)

The problem with these little lies — which are harmless at first — is that they tend to have a snowball effect.

A study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience found that lying is a slippery slope: When people tell small lies, the brain becomes desensitized to the pang of guilt that dishonesty usually causes.

Basically, the more you lie, the easier it is to do it, and the bigger the lies get.

How good are we at detecting lies?

Chances are you’re throwing lies around pretty often. But do you know when you’re being duped?

It turns out we are pretty good at pegging liars, but that we end up talking ourselves out of it. Research published in Psychological Science found that we all have pre-set instincts for detecting liars, but they are often overridden by our conscious minds.

“Although humans cannot consciously discriminate liars from truth tellers, they do have a sense, on some less-conscious level, of when someone is lying,” the authors say. It’s our conscious biases and decision making skills that interfere with the natural ability to detect deception.

Research shows our accuracy of distinguishing truths from lies is just 53 percent — not much better than flipping a coin.

A large meta-analysis revealed overall accuracy of distinguishing truths from lies was just 53 percent — not much better than flipping a coin, note the authors, psychologists Charles Bond, PhD, of Texas Christian University, and Bella DePaulo, PhD, of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

And it seems we’re all equally as bad at identifying them: A 2014 study found that emotionally intelligent individuals are more easily duped by liars.

While letting these little white lies go isn’t life or death (and honestly, we may be better off not knowing if our co-worker hates our outfit), there are more serious situations where vetting lies is an important skill. Say you have an underlying suspicion that your spouse is being unfaithful, or that your child may be engaging in dangerous activities behind your back.

Luckily there are active steps we can take to improve our lie detection radar. According to behavioral experts and professional interrogators, the key is to watch rather than listen. You may not be able to hear a lie but you can spot a liar by being aware of these nonverbal signs.

When it comes to spotting a liar, the key is to watch rather than listen.MaryAnnShmueli / Getty Images

5 steps to becoming a human lie detector

Establish a baseline

“In the world of behavioral analysis, baseline observations are the totality of observing nonverbal attributes absent the introduction of stressors and triggers. Most baseline measurements should be calibrated during non-confrontational conversation,” says Roger Strecker, Sr., a trained behavioral analysis interviewer/interrogator with over 30 years of law enforcement experience, who is now the CEO of Ternion Risk Mitigation Group.

It’s especially easy to establish a baseline of behavior for those you are close to like spouses, children and friends.

“If you are using visual behavior to gauge the credibility of someone you know, you will also have the benefit of a baseline. Some people, for example, will never look you in the eye. For others, every interaction is a stare down,” wrote Wendy L. Patrick, Ph.D., career prosecutor, behavioral expert and author of author of "Red Flags: How to Spot Frenemies, Underminers, and Ruthless People." “Knowing how someone normally looks (or doesn't) during in-person interaction can assist in judging the significance of deviations from the norm.

Study the eyes

They say our eyes are the window to our soul — and when it comes to spotting a liar, studying the portal may lead you to the truth.

A study of people across 58 countries found that gaze aversion was the behavior that most people associated with deception. But is there any truth to this?

Researchers say no.

Science shows that liars do not avoid eye contact any more frequently than those telling the truth. The key thing to look for in eye movement is deviation from their baseline.

“We are always looking from deviation from baseline analysis, whatever the interviewee exhibits with respect to eye contact, focus and even dilation or constriction of pupils are assessed,” says Strecker. “If eye contact was constant at onset of conversation then changed when a stressor or trigger questions was inserted, this should be noted as an attribute that could be a deceptive response.”

He also notes that how fast or slow someone blinks (and how that changes from their baseline when they say something you suspect to be a lie) is critical to observe.

The caveat comes when there are very high stakes involved — say, cheating in a relationship or doing something in the office place that can cost you your job. In these situations, some studies have found gaze aversion to be linked with deception.

Look for “microexpressions”

Research out of Stephen Porter’s forensic psychology lab at Dalhousie University found that the face will betray the deceiver’s true emotion — “cracking” briefly and allowing displays of true emotion to leak out.

When people were instructed to lie, the researchers were able to discern rare “microexpressions,” flashes of true emotion that show briefly, from one-fifth to one-25th of a second, on their faces.

“The face and its musculature are so complex — so much more complex than anywhere else in our external bodies,” says Leanne ten Brinke, a graduate student in experimental psychology who collaborated on the research. “There are some muscles in the face you can’t control … and those muscles won’t be activated in the absence of genuine emotion — you just can’t do it.”

The face will betray the deceiver’s true emotion — “cracking” briefly and allowing displays of true emotion to leak out.

Porter adds that if someone is telling a really big lie with serious consequences, the face will definitely reveal the deception. “Because unlike body language, you can’t monitor or completely control what’s going on your face. This research was the first detailed experimental demonstration of the secrets revealed when people put on a ‘false face,’ faking or inhibiting various universal emotions.”

These tiny cracks lasting less than one-fifth of a second may leak emotions someone wants to conceal, such as anger or guilt. Experts do point out that signs of emotion aren't necessarily signs of guilt, but they may give you a peek into underlying emotions someone may be concealing.

“The facial expression appears to crack and another emotion leaks on the face, however briefly,” says ten Brinke. “When you see a facial expression like this, you’ve got to probe with questions to find out why the person is feeling this way.”

Spot a fake smile

According to DePaulo’s meta-analysis, liars are more likely to press their lips together, leaving their smile looking forced or tense.

But it’s not just about the lips — it is the mouth/eye combo that is key in spotting a liar.

“A truthful person smiles with their entire face, like the famous Mona Lisa,” says Patrick. “Crow’s feet indicate honesty.”

She stresses that while we tend to distrust people who are shifty-eyed, break eye contact or won't look you in the eye at all, there are plenty of innocent explanations for this, whether they are shy, nervous or socially awkward. So focusing on someone’s eyes when they smile is a great way to rule out these other explanations.

There are seven human emotions, Stecker says: anger, happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust and contempt. These come into play when someone is forcing a smile.

“We are now looking at the ‘blended expression,’ with the lower half of the face exhibiting the secondary human emotion and the upper facial quadrant exhibiting the primary human emotion,” says Strecker. “The real smile will exhibit matching lower and upper hemispheres of human face, which match and will arguably be cataloged as happy. ” With a fake smile there is a disconnect between the eyes and the mouth. “The upper hemisphere or areas around the eyes may be exhibiting contempt, anger or disgust,” he explains.

Look for signs of stress

So you’re pretty sure your friend, boss or family member just lied to your face. You decide to press them on the issue by asking for clarification around the statement. Chances are, there are going to be some physical shifts that can clue you into their discomfort.

Touching of the face is a ‘pacifier’ and has a calming effect to a brain under stress.

“The limbic and basal ganglia systems are two critical components of the human brain controlling processing of stress and visible nonverbal deception attributes humans exhibit,” says Strecker. "Not commonly known, when the human brain is under stress, the brain temperature rises and often is exhibited as perspiration on the forehead or upper lip area of the face. Touching of the face is a ‘pacifier’ and has a calming effect to an otherwise brain under stress. Foot tapping or fidgety hands (when during baseline their hands, legs and feet were benign) should be noted.”

Of course this is dependent on the baseline — some people just have a habit of twirling their hair or touching their face. But Strecker says to be mindful of any changes in blinking speed, swallowing, facial hand rubbing, yawning, hair twirling or rate of breathing — all actions that may hint a lie is in process.

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How to recognize a liar? | News CTC Love

Sometimes a lie is obvious. If your little brother says that Homer Simpson, painted in mashed potatoes on the wallpaper, is the work of your grandmother, it's easy to guess that he is lying.

But, more often than not, cheating is not so easy to see through. So that no one can fool you, we have written instructions for you on how to recognize a liar.

"Delay" persons nine0006

If you have a beginner, inexperienced liar in front of you, then he will definitely make such a mistake: saying that he is sad, only after a few seconds he will confirm this with a sad grimace. Whatever he lies about: about his mood, the weather, the recipe for pancakes, the expression on his face will always be slightly “late”, because he will need to consciously “pull up” facial expressions to match the emotions he is talking about.

Long pause

This is also a delay option. Ask: “Who ate all the pizza?”, And if the potential liar did this, after a long pause he will answer: “Most likely, Tamara Vasilievna from the third floor.” From this pause between the question and the answer, it will become clear to you that you are being lied to.

Heavy look

A relaxed and honest person can do anything during a conversation: actively gesticulate, return to the beginning of the story and clarify the details, and most importantly, look away and think about something. Liars, on the other hand, most often look intently into the eyes of the interlocutor, believing that this gives them credibility. nine0006

Impersonal story

When a person lies, he unconsciously distances himself from his lies. For example, he might say "Someone ripped your headphones" instead of "I ripped your headphones".

Pointing hands

If your interlocutor during a conversation increasingly directs his hands towards himself, as if "raking" your attention, most likely he is lying. People who tell the truth, on the contrary, point their hands towards the opponent. nine0006

No specifics and no arguments

Your jeans are gone for the whole evening, and in the morning you find them soiled with mayonnaise and earth. When you ask a suspect what happened to them, he replies, "Absolutely nothing." When you say: “Hey, but there is earth, mayonnaise and what is it - french fries?”, And the person again answers: “So what? Nothing happened”, be sure (s) - he is lying to you.

Touch

If a person lies and is nervous, he involuntarily touches his eyes, rubs his neck, or gently pulls his earlobes.

Everything happens on the left

Liars successfully control the right side of their body, but the left one is absolutely not amenable to training. If during the conversation the suspect makes involuntary movements with his left hand, touches his left ear or jerks his left knee, know that he is lying. nine0006

How many of these features can you find on Jim Carrey in Liar Liar? Check it out - watch "Liar, Liar" on Saturday at 18:55 on CTC Love!

How to recognize a liar. 28 signs you're being told a lie with a smart and experienced liar.

In order to find out whether a person is lying or not, FBI officers study "body language" - non-verbal signals that betray a person who is trying to mislead you. Mark Boughton worked for the FBI for 30 years and wrote the book Spotting a Liar Like the FBI Does. He told Business Insider how, with the help of such non-verbal cues, he was able to identify the terrorist Timothy McVeigh and accuse him of organizing the bombing in Oklahoma City. nine0006

Movements that betray a lie can be caused by increased nervousness, certain chemical and physical reactions that occur in the human body. Anyone can use body language to detect lies. But first you need to understand what is the "normal behavior" of your interlocutor. "When you study his behavior in a relaxed state, ask more pointed or leading questions, and if the reaction changes significantly, most likely he is lying," states Boughton. nine0006

Rubbing hands often.

Fingers rings, bracelets and watches, constantly rotating them around fingers or wrists.

Pull hands to the back of the head. This gesture may be a sign that sweat has broken out on the neck and upper back of your interlocutor. He's nervous - and probably lying.

Rubbing hands on knees very often.

nine0002 Wind the ends of the hair around the fingers.

Passing a hand over the clothes as if trying to remove a sticky thread, when in fact there is no sticky thread.

"Twist" the legs - cross the knees first, then the ankles.

Cross the ankles and move the legs back.

Instinctively they try to cover their neck with their hand just under the chin - this is a sign that a person feels danger. nine0006

Cross their arms.

Breathing rapidly and feverishly.

If they smoke or chew, I do it faster than usual.

Gesticulate quickly and impetuously.

They mechanically play with a ballpoint pen, taking out and then removing the refill.

They dangle their feet.

nine0002 Shrug only one shoulder, while the other remains motionless.

Often bring a pen or pencil to the mouth.

Blush (this is typical for women).

Cover their eyes while talking and keep them closed for more than one second.

Quickly look from side to side.

They often lower their eyes, and then look to their right (this applies to right-handed people, the left-hander looks to the left). This is what they do when they lie about smells and sensations.

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