In a day and age where truth can be misdiagnosed as fake and things that are fake can be construed
to be the truth, we need to decipher the fact from the fiction.
Whether it be in a murder mystery novel or watching mainstream media or even in our daily
lives, it is important to differentiate who is telling us the truth and who is blatantly
lying to our faces.
Do you know how many times, on average, people lie per week?
And can you guess what percentage of people can’t go a full 10 minutes without lying?
Well, stick around until the end and we’ll surprise you with some of these mind boggling
facts about lying!
Now, keep watching for 7 simple ways to figure out if someone is lying to you.
7.
Short emotional outbursts.
In a study conducted at Stephen Porter’s Forensic Psychology Lab at Dalhousie University,
they found that a liar will have short and quick bursts of true emotion.
The study asked participants to intentionally lie and when the researchers tracked the movements
on their face they found that these liars would have very minute ‘cracks’ in their
lies that would last one-fifth of a second.
This means that when someone is lying, they might show brief but very obvious signs of
emotion.
Dr. Porter said: ‘If someone is telling a really important lie in which the consequences
are dire, say life imprisonment, the lie will be revealed anyway.
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.’
So the next time you think someone may be lying to you, watch their faces and try to
spot any quick changes or movements on their face.
If you notice something, that person may be lying!
6.
Pressed lips.
In a meta-analysis that was done by the American Psychological Association, they found that
liars were more likely to press their lips together which made their faces look tenser
and ‘forced.’
But according to Dr. Wendy Patrick, the ‘eye-mouth’ combo is what differentiates a liar from a
truth-teller.
Someone who is genuinely happy to see you will smile with both their eyes and mouth
but a fake expression can be found when the eyes and the mouth don’t match in ‘expression.’
When someone is smiling but their smile just doesn’t seem to match their eyes, it could
mean they are lying.
This could be represented in cold, distant eyes.
The truth is always in the eyes, folks, so always make sure to establish eye contact
when you think someone is lying!
5.
The Devil is in The Details.
According to Psychology Today, someone who is lying will leave out specific details.
A truth teller will generally include details and tidbits in their stories because that’s
how they perceived the situation to be.
But a liar will leave our details and provide an incomplete account of an event.
This also leads to inconsistencies in their stories as well as a difficulty to retell
the story accurately.
The reason a liar will leave out the details is because they will have a hard time remembering
the small details if they are questioned about the lie they told.
That’s why when someone lies and is questioned about it, there tends to be all sorts of inconsistencies
in their stories that just don’t add up.
If you notice that someone tends to leave out specific details in their stories, they’re
probably lying.
Try to question them about small details and see how they handle it.
This is a sure fire way to catch a liar in a web of lies!
4.
Eye Contact.
Another way to tell if someone is lying is by gauging their eye contact.
According to Wendy L. Patrick who is a career prosecutor as well as a behavioral expert:
‘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.’
Therefore, knowing the person’s baseline can be vital in finding out the truth.
If someone is avoiding eye contact, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are lying.
Some people who lie tend to avoid eye contact at all costs, while on the other hand, some
liars may stare you right in the eye and maintain eye contact at all times.
This is why it is important to understand how different people use eye contact while
they are lying.
You should also watch their body language and facial expressions as well as how they
maintain eye contact to see if they are lying or not!
3.
Bad memory.
According to Psychology Today, liars are more frequent in admitting to having a faulty memory.
Truth tellers can generally relay the story with no real difficulties since they are telling
the truth, but liars, however, will be more willing and susceptible to giving ‘excuses’
as to why they can’t fully remember the event.
This goes back to avoiding giving much detail when a liar is telling a story.
When a liar is called out on their lies, he or she will tend to resort to the excuse that
they have a bad memory.
This lets them weasel out of the lie they told and gives them an excuse for not having
the story right.
2.
People are more likely to lie when they’re under stress.
Clinical psychotherapist Jerilee Claydon says: ‘Lies are usually told to gain a connection.
A fundamental human quality for survival is to maintain relationships, so if the truth
doesn’t appear to be working, we often lie.’
She says that understanding the context of the situation can help decipher the meaning
behind the words.
Dr. Claydon said: ‘Are they embarrassed, insecure or fearful of revealing the truth?
Before calling someone out, question if there’s anything to be gained by doing so’.
If you are in a situation where someone is extremely stressed or could face some pretty
bad repercussions if they tell the truth, they are likely to lie.
Take this into consideration when trying to spot a liar!
If you’ve ever been in a stressful situation where you knew that telling the truth could
get you into trouble, you can probably understand this very simple way to spot a liar.
For example, if you ever accidentally broke your parent’s vase or expensive piece of
jewelry when you were a kid and lied about it to them (by perhaps blaming it on another
sibling or even the family dog), then you can probably understand this telltale sign
that someone is lying.
We’ve all done it before, which is why it’s placed as number 2 on our list of the easiest
ways to figure out when someone is lying to you!
Now, here is the number one way to tell if someone is lying!
1.
Liars are more likely to touch their faces or fidget.
Roger Strecker Sr., a trained Behavioral Analysis Interviewer/Interrogator with over 30 years
of law enforcement experience, says that the touching of the face creates a calming effect
on the mind.
Noticing minute physical expressions such as those can help in spotting a liar.
He said: ‘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 should be noted.’
This means that you should watch out for small mannerisms or changes in body language/movements
when you think someone is lying.
It is very common for someone to unconsciously touch their face or fidget when they are lying.
They don’t even realize they are doing it, but it is a telltale sign that someone is
lying.
It is definitely something you should watch out for!
So now that you know 7 ways to figure out if someone is lying to you, here are some
crazy facts about lying!
The American Psychological Association performed a study that showed that, on average, Americans
tell approximately 11 lies per week.
Another study conducted in the Journal of Basic and Applied Social Psychology revealed
that 60 percent of people can’t go 10 minutes without lying.
That’s right, science states that most of us lie multiple times throughout the week,
and a majority of us lie every ten minutes.
Those are some pretty big numbers!
Well, at least now you know how to spot a liar, right?
What are some sure-fire ways you know that someone is lying?
Let us know in the comments section below!