Know if Someone is Lying

It can be difficult to tell when someone is lying, especially if they are really good at it. But there are specific cues that hint at deception. Paying attention to body language, speech, and reactions in certain situations can be helpful in determining if someone is lying to you.

Steps

Watching Body Language

1. Notice if he is grooming or adjusting something. Many liars are suddenly distracted by a need to smooth down their hair, align a pen on the desk, or push in a chair at a table. These actions can be indicators that the person is lying.
2. Listen for throat clearing and swallowing. Someone who is lying might clear their throat more frequently or swallow significantly before answering a question.
3. See if her hands keep touching her face. While many liars are not fidgety, they may still bring their hands to their face. Under the stress of fabricating a story, a liar may experience some level of anxiety. This may cause blood to drain from the extremities, including the ears. Sometimes, this can cause tickling or another sensation, and the individual might bring his hands up to touch the ears.
4. Watch for lips pressed firmly together. Liars often press their lips together more firmly and frequently when not telling the truth. Sometimes, this might indicate concentration, which a liar often has to have in order to fabricate his story.
5. Look for decreased blinking. Lying requires more cognitive energy, since the liar needs to concentrate harder while exerting mental energy. People tend to blink less frequently when they are expending cognitive energy, so look for decreased blinking if you think someone is lying.
   • The same can be said for fidgeting. People often fidget less when they have increased cognitive function such as when they are lying.
6. Monitor the person’s body movement. Many people who are lying tend to stand very still. Some attribute this to the body’s reaction to a threatening situation. Similar to the fight-or-flight response, the body stands still, ready to fight.

Paying Attention to Spoken Language

1. Listen to the person’s word choices. Language in a fabricated story usually becomes more impersonal. The person may decrease the use of first-person words, such as “I,” “me,” and “mine.” The person may avoid using people’s names, instead using words like “him” and “her” with more frequency.,
2. Watch for a deflection. When you are questioning a liar, he may deflect your questions to steer you off-course. He might switch topics altogether, or he might answer your question with a question.
3. Listen for repeated words and phrases. Someone who is lying may repeat certain words or phrases. It can seem as though he is trying to convince himself of a lie. It’s also possible that certain phrases or words may be part of his rehearsed lie.
   • A liar might also repeat the question that you ask him, likely trying to buy time to think of a suitable response.
4. Listen for sentence fragments. Often, liars will start to give an answer to a question and stop. They will then start over or not complete a sentence. This may be an indication that they are already finding holes in their own story and are trying to cover up any mistakes they’re saying.
5. Recognize when the person corrects what she says. Spontaneous corrections occur when the liar is trying to make up and edit the story as it is being told. If you notice that the person is correcting herself often, their story may be fabricated.
6. Look for lack of details in a story. People who are lying tend to leave out little details that truth-tellers leave in. Minor details are harder to keep track of and remember, so liars usually find it better to omit them.
   • Someone telling the truth might describe the music playing in the background in a certain scenario, while a liar will probably omit this detail. A story will be vague so that she can remember the details she has to say.
   • A liar might also have inconsistent details, so pay attention to the details of the story.

Monitoring A Person’s Reactions

1. See if the person’s face fully shows emotion. When a person fakes an emotion, his face often betrays him, because he may only show emotion on the upper or lower half of his face. For example, if someone is smiling, see if this emotion carries to his eyes. Similarly, if someone is crying, does this emotion seem consistent with the expression on the lower half of his face?
2. Ask a question the person won’t anticipate. Many liars have their stories lined up for questions that they anticipate. When you throw them a curveball by asking something unexpected, they might not have an appropriate response.
   • For example, if the person says that he went to eat at a particular restaurant, he might anticipate that you’ll ask about their food, the waiter, and how much the meal cost. But he might not expect a question about where the bathroom was located.
3. Read microexpressions. Microexpressions are very minor facial movements that capture a person’s true feelings. These are fleeting emotions, sometimes lasting for as little as 1/125th of a second.
   • Microexpressions will indicate emotion, but they do not necessarily give you clues as to why the person is feeling that emotion. For example, a lying person might show fear in a microexpression because she is scared she will be caught. But a truthful person might show fear in a microexpression because she is scared that she will not be believed.
4. Watch for verbal/non-verbal disconnects. Sometimes a person will say one thing and his body will react in another way unintentionally. For example, he may answer yes to a question, but his head may shake side to side, indicating no.
   • Keep in mind that nonverbal cues vary widely from person to person. What you recognize in one person may not translate to another person.

Tips

• It is difficult to determine if someone is lying when texting or emailing. One study shows that people who are lying take a little longer to respond to a text, partly because they are making more edits or perfecting the tone of the message.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Stop Telling Lies of Omission
• Lie
• Detect Lies
• Tell Someone You Lied
• Spot a Shoplifter
• Spot a Pathological Liar
• Make Someone Tell the Truth
• Detect a Liar
• Tell if Someone Is Lying About Using Drugs
• Manipulate People

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