Have you ever wondered whether someone was lying to you or telling the truth? I was stumbling and found an article in which goes through 5 signs in which you can detect whether someone is lying to you or not. These signs and techniques are used mainly by police and security experts.
These five signs are:
1. Body Language Use
2. Emotional Gestures and Contraditions
3. Interactions and Reactions
4. Verbal Context and Content
5. Quick Subject Change.
These five signs are just rough outlines of what is covered on this website. It is very fascinating and is fun to read and understand. The psychology and law aspect of this would have to be the fact that knowing when someone is lying can help jurors determine wheter a person's testimony in court is truthful by the expressions shown on that person's face.
If you comment on this blog. I would like to know some of your own personal experiences in detecting whether a person was lying or truthful, and if any of these signs were present.
That is a really great website! I've heard many signs of lying before and all of them have been included here and categorized well. There were some I had never heard, and I had fun reading about them. The only problem with having this information available is that a liar can see this and change his or her lying strategies accordingly. I'm not going to lie, I was taking some internal notes. I hope that those in charge of detecting lies know of many other signs so that these readers do not one-up them.
I can't think of a specific time when I was lied to, but I think it should also be noted that when you know someone, you know their lying tactics. I can tell when my best friend is lying because she gets really hyper-active and over explains things. Many people lie by putting a telephone wire in between them (over the phone).
This post has forced me to realize that I have lied quite a bit, especially in high school. I fall into the smiling only with your mouth bit sometimes, or hardly moving my body. I would sometimes over-explain to my mother over the phone what my friends and I were going to do that night, but luckily she never read this website. I think there is something to be said, though, about having an instinctive feeling that someone is lying to you. I wonder if there is any evolutionary psychology in that phenomenon.
I really liked this website. It reminds me of my favorite show, Lie to Me. The show is about a team of deception experts who get hired by the government and other agencies to find out the truth in situations. The reason I like it so much is because while the stories aren't true, the ways to find out if someone is lying or what their body language is saying is true.
Because I've watched that show a lot, I've heard about some of these ways to tell if someone is lying, especially the body language ones. I think they're very useful things to know because I think people lie quite a bit.
When trying to think of any times I knew I was being lied to, I can only remember knowing because I had a gut feeling they were lying. I think it's almost impressive when people are good liars because I'm terrible at lying and feel like everyone knows when I am, which is why I don't!
This website was really interesting, though I’d be interested in knowing a few of the details about how these techniques are applied. Like if someone is an expert in this area how successful are they at detecting lies? And how successful are these signs if the person thinks they are telling the truth, or isn’t sure what the truth is?
I also wonder how these signs are different than those used during a polygraph test. Are they more likely or less likely to run into the problems that polygraph, and now fMRI lie detectors are and have run into since their development.
As far as the courts go it seems impossible for this type of evidence to be admitted into court, since all the signs are quite vague. Although seeing several of these signs could convince an investigator to re-check an alibi or re-interview a witness to check for consistency which may make or break a case so it’s not as though they are useless techniques.
I could see that since the signs seem so “obvious” people may believe they are much better at detecting lies than they actually are. This could cause serious problems in a psychological, as well as legal setting. A therapist or case worker may diagnose, miss-treat, or dismiss someone as a liar or compulsive liar and not give them the compassion and commitment they need. Similarly an investigator might waste time and money going after someone who’s really shy around cops and thus emits these behaviors, and too little time around criminals who are brilliant liars. Although they are very interesting I think I’ll hold off before telling my wife she’s a liar the next time she mumbles, avoids eye contact, touches her nose, and avoids using conjunctions.
That is a great website, I loved the examples they provided! I didn't realize some of the 'signs' to look for when a person is lying. My mom can always tell when I'm lying, and when I ask how she knows she always say "you move your eyes differently when you lie". I try to control my eye movement, but it only makes it worse. This website is great, however some people are just social awkward and even if they're not lying they may act like they are. I wonder why people put an object in between them and the person they're lying to. It maybe because the distance/ interruption makes them feel less vulnerable.
The fact that I found most interesting was that if a person is lying, they'll only use their mouth to smile and not their whole face. Although the more I think about it, the more I realize this is completely valid. One of my friends always denies when she's in a bad mood, and when you ask her she'll smile and say no. However, her smile is just a tiny smirk and it's only her lips that move. Although she never fools me, because when she's in a bad mood it's obvious.
These 'tips' to catch a liar were interesting and now I'll think twice before I lie again...or at least try not to do some of these signs.
As many other posters have said, it's always easier to tell when someone you know is lying. Simply put, the more you know the behavior of an individual, the more an observer can spot differences in their behavior in similar situations. Of course, we all know this. When it comes to someone I don't know well or at all, I use those 5 above. One thing I always look for is vital details in a person's story if it's very general. Sometimes, if I know I'll have contact with the person for some time, I'll ask them to tell it again and see if any details were different.
The only other thing I can add is about behavior. If you do know the person fairly well and they don't look at you when talking, have bad body language in general, stutter, or show any other top signs of lying, chances are is they AREN'T. Remember, spotting a lie is looking for differences in personality and behavior and not for the general signs of a liar.
For those that wish to improve their ability to fabricate truths, as I like to put it, it's always best to believe what you're saying as the complete truth, work out the details beforehand, and most importantly use a familiar situation that's happened to you and incorporate what you're fabricating into that. Most of the details will be filled from that, but make sure the entirety of the story makes sense and is believable. As Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players..." Actors/Actresses are merely liars that people want to believe in.