How to recognize lies in communication. Video: How to find out if a person is telling the truth? Hands are the most insidious exposer of lies

"Everybody lies." "Everybody lies!" – the phrase that belonged to the cynical Dr. House from the television series of the same name is absolutely true. Statistics show that each of us tells lies at least 50 times a day! Not in all cases this is a deliberate lie. Reservations and self-deception also count. It is often easier to lie than to go into lengthy explanations. But it is very unpleasant to be deceived, especially in some important matter. How to recognize a lie?

Signs of a liar

A person can be a skilled liar and an excellent actor, but his own body gives him away. If you are careful enough, you will easily learn to understand when they are telling you the truth and when they are deceiving you. The following signs will help you spot a liar:

Long pauses and frequent repetitions of individual phrases indicate that the interlocutor has to carefully select expressions, think about what he is saying, and he tries to remember his own words so as not to make mistakes in the future.

How to expose an experienced liar?

Pathological liars are often quite good at managing their emotions and making intense eye contact. They themselves believe in what they are telling, do not experience stress, their speech is calm, their breathing is even. But involuntary reactions, movements of the arms or legs, can still give away the deceiver. How can you recognize a lie from the speaker's gestures? Observe the person you are talking to and their body will tell you the truth:

The gestures of a person who tells the truth are directed towards the area of the heart, the solar plexus. If your interlocutor raises his hands, palms facing his chest or stomach, then this indicates the sincerity of his words and intentions.

How to check the sincerity of your interlocutor

There are several simple ways bring the liar to " clean water»:

If you accuse someone who is telling the truth of lying, the person will become embarrassed and offended. His reaction is more likely to be: “I won’t tell you anything else.” A liar will react more emotionally, prove that he is right, and add new details. Most likely, you will hear the phrases: “Who do you take me for!”, “How dare you accuse me of deceiving!”

How to catch your partner cheating

How can you recognize a lie if you suspect your partner of cheating? Please note that it is not that simple. Both men and women tend to hide relationships “on the side” until the last moment, so it is unlikely to achieve a truthful confession. And yet, pay attention to the following signs that are common to all traitors:

The best defense is attack. An unfaithful partner will react aggressively to a direct question or even an innocent joke about going to the left, making excuses, and may even accuse you of cheating. Moreover, it is men who “attack” most often. Girls often, on the contrary, feeling guilty, try to somehow make amends for it to their partner.
Renowned psychologist James Pennebaker argues that a liar avoids these words: me, my, our, In my. Thus, the deceiver tries to distance himself from what he says and subconsciously relieves himself of responsibility for what he said.
If the question is: “Who did you spend last evening with?” or “What’s the name of your new assistant?” If you hear a rather vague answer, the timbre of your partner’s voice changes, we advise you to ask a couple more leading questions. Most likely, they are trying to deceive you.

All of these signs indicate that you are being lied to. But, nevertheless, you should not let jealousy deprive yourself of your mind. If there are no other factors indicating your partner’s infidelity, you shouldn’t start a family scandal because he answered a question unclearly or forgot the name of a pretty colleague.

How to understand that a child is deceiving you

It is very important for parents that their children tell them the truth. How can you recognize a lie if you suspect that your child is deceiving you? Children are not yet as good at hiding the truth as adults. Use our tips to understand whether your baby is speaking sincerely or not:

When answering a question, the child speaks slowly, drawing out the words. This gives him time to think about his lies.
Children are not yet very good at managing emotions. The baby knows that he is doing wrong, so he will blush and look embarrassed.
If a child avoids eye contact, this is another reason to doubt the veracity of his words. Most likely, he is afraid of punishment and does not want to admit to what he did.
Nervous movements, touching the lips, eyebrows, ear, left half of the face and clothing indicate that talking makes the baby uncomfortable.
A tense posture, constant changes in facial expression, and rapid speech also indicate that the child wants to mislead you.

To wean a child from lying, do not punish him for misdeeds, but explain why he should not do so. If your child is honest about breaking something or breaking something, first praise them for telling the truth. Of course, set an example for him!

Why do people lie?

In fact, not only vile people and scammers lie. Each of us deceives others for personal reasons. Here are the most common ones:

a person wants to appear better than he is;
a lie must hide an unseemly act;
with the help of deception, the interlocutor wants to protect the feelings of another person (the so-called “white lie”);
Sometimes, in order to get rid of you, it’s easier to lie than to indulge in lengthy explanations.

Lying is not bad if it does not harm another person. Much worse is the truth, which can hurt. After all, for example, to the question plump girl: "I lost weight?" It’s better to lie: “Of course” and lift the person’s mood than to offend with an unpleasant truth.

People lie so as not to give away someone else's secret. Cheerful and open people always embellish a little the next joke or interesting story. There is no “black” and “white” in life, don’t forget about halftones. And straightforwardness is not always appropriate, and lying is not always evil.

Olesya, Moscow

All people are different. The way of perceiving the world, thinking, reacting to a particular event is different for all people. Lying is one of these manifestations and is also expressed in different ways.

It is believed that there is no common set of gestures, but if there was one, we would be able to determine who is lying to us. The most relevant lie is reflected when he (the person) provokes emotions.

The body reflects these emotions in its own language. However, to be sure that you are being lied to, you need to perceive a combination of gestures, facial expressions, and speech. To lie on high level, increased self-control is required, which means tension.

The truth is somewhere on the left

A person may be overtly or covertly tense. To determine this, look carefully at the person’s left side. From a neurophysiological point of view, control over the left half is less strong than over the right. The brain, with its left and right hemispheres, controls the sides of the body differently.

Speech, intelligence, and the ability to do mathematics are the domain of the left hemisphere.
Imagination, emotions, abstract thinking are the work of the right hemisphere.
Management occurs generally in the form of crossing. The left hemisphere is the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere is the left side.

For example, we communicate with a right-handed person. During the conversation, he gesticulates vigorously, using his left hand. It is very likely that this is a liar. This is most pronounced if the right hand is almost not involved in the matter. If such a discrepancy is observed, the person is definitely not sincere. If the same disorder is observed in the face, i.e. the left or right half is more active, perhaps also a lie. Particular attention should be paid to the left side.

Lies are annoying

If you notice that your interlocutor has turned pale or, on the contrary, turned pink during communication, and there is also a slight twitching of the facial muscles, as well as eyelids or eyebrows, they may also be lying to you.

If you see that the interlocutor closes his eyes, squints or blinks often, then he is trying to unconsciously abstract himself from the topic of conversation. The comfort or lack thereof of the interlocutor can be judged by the pupils. Usually, as a result of various discontent, they narrow.

The pupil reacts to pleasure by dilating. If your eyes are averted to the side, you are not necessarily a liar. But if they look directly into your eyes, too persistently, this is already a sign of insincerity.

A lie on the tip of your nose

It's interesting that your own nose can give you away. If you see how, while communicating with you, a person twitches the tip of his nose or moves it to the side, you should think about the sincerity of the interlocutor’s words. If someone flares their nostrils when communicating with you, you should think about the fact that they don’t really believe you.

It's funny, but it is the nose that is especially sensitive to lies. It may itch and change in size (the so-called “Pinocchio effect”). All this is scientifically based, since lying causes blood pressure to rise, which in turn affects the nasal mucosa by producing the hormone catecholamine.

Did you wash your hands?

If, when communicating with you, the interlocutor tries to put his hands in his pocket or close his palms, we can with a certain degree of confidence assume that he is hiding something. This feature is most pronounced in children.

Hiding your palms or keeping them open can be used against you even in a regular market. An experienced salesperson can see how your palms are positioned when you refuse a purchase and can understand how much you really need it. If you cover your mouth with your hand, then here we see a desire not to blurt out too much. This may be indicated by tension in the mouth muscles, as well as lip biting.

Posture is very important in determining a person's honesty. Let's say you observe a person in a tense or uncomfortable position. He can constantly squirm, trying to make himself more comfortable. This means that the topic of conversation is bothering him and he may not agree with it. Liars can lean and cross their legs. Usually, if a person is truthful, then his posture is relaxed and comfortable.

Everybody lies

Have you come across a phrase like “honestly” and what follows in conversation? It’s worth taking a closer look at the person at the moment of its utterance. When certain patterns are repeated, it is worth questioning the speaker’s honesty. For example, phrases such as:

You must believe me...
I'm telling the truth, believe me...
Can I cheat? Never!
I'm being one hundred percent honest with you!

Often it doesn’t even matter what a person says. What matters is how he does it. The timbre of the voice, its rhythm, if it suddenly changes, may indicate insincerity or lies. If the interlocutor hesitates or finds it difficult to pronounce the next phrase, be wary.

Typically, gesticulation allows us to convey to our interlocutor a more amplified version of what we said. As a rule, the tempo of such gestures and speech are in accordance. If you see a discrepancy between one and the other, you should think about it. This means that what a person thinks is not necessarily what he says.

Let's say you want to catch a person cheating. To do this, it is worth taking some steps. You need to get into the same rhythm with him, adjust, so it will be more difficult for him to lie to you. There is no need to directly accuse a person of lying. It’s best to pretend that you didn’t hear the words and let him repeat himself. This will give you a better chance of telling the truth.

Direct questions are best. Facial expressions and gestures directed at the interlocutor will force him to react accordingly. And a few more facts about lying. Typically, people lie on the phone about 37 percent of the time. Personal conversations account for 27 percent, the Internet 21 percent, and about 14 percent lies in emails.

If a person is more sociable, most likely he also lies more. Regardless of gender, people lie about equally often. However, the essence of lies varies. Women try to relax their interlocutor by lying, and men use lies to assert themselves. A person is not born a liar, but acquires this ability only by the age of three or four years from birth.

The following methods for detecting human lies are used by police, forensic psychologists, security experts and other investigators. This is a basic run-through of physical gestures (language gestures) and verbal cues that indicate signs of lying.

This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers and for those who can use it in everyday situations, it will prevent you from becoming a victim of lies/fraud, etc.

The surest sign of truth is simplicity and clarity. Lies are always complex, elaborate and verbose.

Now, I want to be very clear that there are no personality factors such as gestures, body movements, eye movements, or facial expressions that are determinants of lying. Although there are some that occur naturally, such as changes in heart rate, neuronal and nerve activity.

Why don't I believe it? For the simple reason that there are people who are masters of lies, psychopathic and antisocial personalities who love to make people suffer, violate the rights of others and violate all rules and regulations. Therefore, they know how to deal with both the signs of lying and the feelings of remorse, compassion, or guilt that lead to outward signs that they are lying.

On the other hand, there are people who are trained to hide information, hence one needs to be an expert to extract the truth from them.

However, don't expect this article to make you an expert on the signs of a person lying.

The first sign of a lie: fear, hesitation, unusual disturbances or preoccupation, evasiveness, explanations without reason, defensiveness, unusual aggressiveness or suspicious behavior of a person. These could be some of external signs lies that the subject cannot cover up with a lie regarding a specific situation.

Another sign of a person’s lies is situations with direct questions. You will notice evasiveness towards the problem through refusal, excuses and explanations that you did not ask for. However, I don't want to create paranoid people, especially if confidence is at stake, so there is no need to conclude that they are lying to us unless we have key evidence.

Second sign of lying: inadequacy, personality changes, mood changes (emotional lability) such as anger for no reason, symptoms of remorse or guilt. However, many people are able to suppress their conscience enough that main feature lies - inconsistency. You can't say one thing and do another. If actions generally do not correspond to their speeches or if their explanations do not correspond to reality, and suspicions begin to arise, we can already perceive as something deceitful.

Usually when most people lie they get stuck in the relationship. Attitude change is not as easy to control as guilt because it involves reflecting thoughts. If the subject has changed the attitude, which is clearly visible, we already have a key element.

Third sign of lying: evidence of all the inconsistencies together creating a map that detects lies is simply seeing the signs of lies with our own eyes.

No non-verbal signs lies that are the same for all people.

A liar thinks more about what he says and less about his own nonverbal communication. It is easier to manage words than expressions and micro-expressions of emotions.

There are three main reasons why nonverbal behavior can reveal lies:

Lying causes stress, fear and effort, which transfers into observable expressions and gestures. Nonverbal cues express emotions of fear or unwillingness to lie.
An excessive attempt to control information leads to artificial actions with little emotion, small gestures and movements that reveal a discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal language.

Facial microexpressions

Facial microexpressions are very rapid movements that appear in conversation, cover the entire face and alternate between normal facial expressions. They are unexpected and appear in the context of slight expressiveness during conversation. They take less than a twentieth of a second and are very difficult to perceive with the naked eye. Research has found that people who lie tend to imitate their facial expressions, but cannot avoid making these quick expressions that betray them.

Smile and laugh

One of usual ways hide emotions.

In Ekman and O'Sullivan's research, smiling is used to mask negative emotional expressions such as anxiety and fear. A liar uses a smile to hide his true emotions. The muscles that produce a smile, especially the contraction of the zygomaticus muscle, have the effect of stretching the corners of the lips laterally and upward.

On the other hand, a real smile is accompanied by a contraction of the eye circumference, which raises the lower eyelid, partially closing the eyes.

Nervous laughter is a typical sign of lying.

Gestures

People use one or both hands when speaking to enhance communication with gestures. A person who lies makes gestures that enhance verbal responses, and they tend to be artificial. Use fewer anti-gravity movements, such as raising the eyebrows, which demonstrate conviction and belief in words, especially at the end of a sentence to add emphasis.

An elusive glance indicates a sign of lying. Therefore, involvement of eye activity is the most common way of assessing deception. Many people think this is the best indicator. However, individual or cultural factors may influence making eye contact. Looking away is a sign of stress.

Verbal cues are the verbal signs of lying, such as the tone of voice, the stories they tell, because telling a lie requires real effort. Although no the right way recognize a lie 100 percent, there are things by which you can roughly determine the signs of a lie.

Voice

In situations of anxiety and stress, the human voice becomes sharper and the pitch rises. A person has difficulty modeling his voice and intonation. Mild aphonia may appear. It is necessary to pay attention to voice changes on key issues. However, the absence of changes is not a sign of truthfulness.

Rhythm of speech

Speech has a consistent, almost rhythmic pattern. When someone is nervous, this pattern becomes slower, more inconsistent, and with speech errors due to nervousness and mental effort.

Word filtering

Because lying takes effort, words don't flow as smoothly when someone tells a lie. This means that someone who is lying must often pause to consider the words before they say them.

Filler words such as ah, mm... um... in moments of hesitation often slip out when someone is lying. These filler words, called collocations, can offer clues about intent talking man.

They repeat or rephrase questions

Instead of giving you a straight answer, you may hear a repeated answer or notice a slight pause between answers. The person may also ask you to repeat a question even though you know they heard you the first time. This is a tactic liars use to buy time before responding.

Someone who is lying may also rephrase the question when giving the answer. For example, a conversation might look something like this:

You say: I already told you not to be around Tracy, so why were you?

They say: you told me not to be around Tracy, so I wasn't.

You say: I saw your car on First Avenue this morning?

They say: My car wasn't on First Avenue this morning.

They stutter

Stuttering and using filler words go hand in hand because both are almost involuntary responses to telling a lie. Stuttering, however, is more like breaks and repetitions in words rather than breaks in sentences. So you may hear someone say, "I've never stayed in mall", For example. One of the main causes of stuttering is anxiety, and lying can definitely make a person feel anxious.

You can't see the person you're talking to. There are audio signals that can help you recognize lies on the phone. Here are 6 tips that may be useful in recognizing lies from telephone interlocutors.

Throat clearing

Telling lies is hard work. This can lead to actual physical changes. The tension of an untruthful reaction can cause an almost immediate redirection of moisture to our skin.
Therefore, the moisture usually present in your throat suddenly disappears for this reason, unless you are a skilled liar.

Complex answers

Direct questions are usually answered with equally short and direct answers. You may have a legitimate reason to doubt if someone you're talking to on the phone gives an answer that sounds more like they're trying to convince you than answer your question.
This possibility increases if the response is followed by defensive language, such as, “What did you mean by asking me that?” Or “I’m not too concerned that my answer isn’t what you wanted to hear.”

Information overload

People who tell lies often try to make them more convincing by including unnecessary information or complex answers that have little or nothing to do with the question. This is an attempt to be more convincing - false belief is that a long answer eliminates suspicion.

Unexpected compliments

People who avoid the truth find that it can help to throw in an unexpected compliment to derail the conversation.
You're lucky if someone tries this tactic because it's obvious. A compliment - instead of an answer - will seem inappropriate.

All people lie. This is a fact, a truth of life that cannot be avoided. Trying to achieve their goals, those around us (and you and I, to be honest) best case scenario They simply hide the truth, at worst, they deceive each other in the most vile way. In order not to become a victim of other people's whims, it is important to be able to recognize where the truth is and where the lies are.

The world-famous psychologist Paul Ekman made a great contribution to the field of determining lies. It was he who became the prototype of the hero of the popular TV series “Lie to Me.” As you remember, Lightman’s group was engaged in solving crimes, professionally deciphering the body language and gestures of suspects. Let's get a little familiar with the art of profiling today - that's what they call professional area studying body language and other signs to detect lies.

Incorruptible subconscious

Our subconscious is simply tuned to the truth, that’s how we are designed. Even the most experienced deceiver is unable to control it. The subconscious produces untruths, no matter how much we resist it. Therefore, you need to be extremely attentive to microsignals of the subconscious. A person’s true thoughts can be revealed by: facial microexpressions, eye movements, gestures, body positions, pitch and timbre of voice, etc.
To recognize deception, you need to take a closer look at the left side of the human body. It shows true emotions left-hand side- left half of the face, left hand, left leg. You can notice signs of lying when your interlocutor’s left hand dangles inappropriately, describes circles in the air without any meaning; the left leg draws shapes or lines on the floor that are not relevant to the topic of conversation. The fact is that the right side is the most controlled. Our brain is designed in such a way that we pay more attention to what we do with our right side. As for the left side of the body, it is not always amenable to conscious control. Recent Scientific research This pattern was explained by the fact that different sides The human body is controlled by different hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere controls speech and intellectual activity, while the right hemisphere controls emotions, imagination and sensory activities. As for the body, the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body, which, thanks to the intellect, is more controlled and movements are more conscious. Therefore, everything that we try to demonstrate to others is shown by the right half of our body, and what we actually experience is displayed by the left.

Treacherous gestures

The most insidious exposer of lies is the hands. If during a conversation a person touches his face with his hands, this is the very first signal that they are trying to deceive you. However, one should not attribute lies to the natural gestures of a person who innocently scratches mosquito bite. One of the characteristic gestures of lying is covering the mouth with one's hand. If the interlocutor is lying, then his hand will somehow begin to cover his mouth: perhaps his thumb will be pressed to his cheek, or he will suddenly be tempted to lightly scratch his nose or ear. In fact, when lying, a person subconsciously tries to close his mouth so that unnecessary words cannot bring him to light. However, trying to control himself, coming to his senses at the last moment, he tries to correct the situation and hide the involuntary movement by touching his nose, allegedly itching.

Rubbing the eyelid - into the same piggy bank. Men rub their eyelids when lying, and women seem to correct their makeup by running their finger under the eye. At the subconscious level, a person wants to avoid the gaze of someone who could expose him. Also, this gesture may mean that you are simply tired of your interlocutor: “My eyes wouldn’t see you,” he thinks. As for looking away, men make this gesture only when the lie is serious. As a rule, representatives of the stronger sex look away at the floor, while the fair half of humanity looks at the ceiling.
Scratching the neck or earlobe index finger right hand speaks of the listener’s doubts, his uncertainty about the correctness of what he is being told. Therefore, if, after listening to you, he says: “I understand you,” “I agree,” and rubs his neck, keep in mind that this is not true, he does not understand and does not agree with your words. The gesture of pulling the collar is interesting. Scientists have proven that lying causes itching in the delicate muscle tissues of the neck and face. This is great: if the interlocutor pulls his collar, it means he is afraid that his lie will be discovered. If you want to “finish off a liar,” there is a simple way to find out the truth: ask your interlocutor again about what he said, ask him to clarify or repeat, explain. This will certainly force the deceiver to refuse to continue the conversation and stop lying further.

Other lie markers

After lengthy research on the topic: “The psychology of lying,” scientists have compiled a set of clear rules by which anyone can determine whether their interlocutor is lying or not. Edward Geiselman, professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, made a special contribution to the research. Having analyzed more than 60 scientific works, he prepared practical guide for security and police workers, which indicates the most characteristic features behavior that betrays untruth. As it turned out, the deceiver, when answering a question, tries to say as little as possible. The vast majority of liars prefer to speak briefly and “to the point.” But despite their taciturnity, they tend to go into details out of place. When no one asks them to do this, liars begin to explain, to give explanations to the few facts that they mentioned.

Liars also tend to peer inquisitively into the face of their interlocutor, studying how listeners react to what is said. Often, liars begin to speak at a slow pace that is not typical for their normal speech. They think of something on the fly and monitor the reaction of the interlocutor. Then, having finally formulated the idea, making sure that everything is fine, they quickly lay out everything else.

Typical reaction of a cheater

If you doubt the veracity of the story, and give compelling reasons for this, the typical reaction of the deceiver will be an attack: “So I’m lying according to you!?! Yes, I am for you, and you... How can you!..” Of course, the undeservedly accused will be offended by your distrust, but he will want to understand the situation or will be offended and stop the conversation: “I won’t tell you anything else at all.” But if you apologize and explain your doubts, he will be happy to explain everything to you so that you understand. From the deceiver, nothing but reproaches will probably follow.

To avoid becoming a victim of deception, let's look at specific techniques to detect lies.

Talk to a liar

Ask the person to retell all the events in reverse order, starting from the end of the story. Let him tell you as much as possible, in more detail, without losing sight of the details. This task can be quite difficult for a deceiver. Even for a “professional liar,” such a task poses a serious “cognitive load.” After all, he is forced to strictly adhere to the invented version, not to blurt out anything out of place, to invent non-existent details and at the same time monitor the reaction of the listener. A liar will get confused in his testimony, take long pauses, trying to remember what he said, and you will immediately understand that they want to fool you.

The right questions

Ask the narrator the right questions. Namely: they should not contain supposed answers and tips, do not make the task easier for him. Make the respondent talk in detail. For example, like this: “Clarify this point...”, “Tell me more about...”, etc. Ask general questions first, and only then go into detail. If he has already moved away from the topic, so much the better. Ask a clarifying question about the details, returning to the point that was already discussed earlier. The harder it is to concentrate, the less time there is to come up with an answer. After all, the deceiver does not want to create doubts in you, so he will have to quickly strain his brain to remember what exactly he has already told. He simply won’t have time to come up with details. Anyone who tells a lie is likely to become entangled in his own story. Know how to listen
Don't interrupt the narrator, know how to listen. By pausing, you encourage him to talk more and delve into details. Make an interested face, sometimes feign surprise or even frown, as if something doesn’t add up in his story. But just do it carefully, not deliberately. Believe me, the deceiver is carefully watching your reaction, and the barely noticeable bewilderment that flashes across your face, literally a split second, can plunge him into panic. He will begin to falter, stutter, blush, sweat, his voice will become quieter, the pace will become more chaotic.

And "towards the end"

Let's summarize. There are a lot of signs by which you can determine the untruth in the words of your interlocutor. At the same time, you will probably find a whole “bouquet” of an inexperienced liar, while an “experienced” one will make mistakes with only one or two. An experienced liar needs to be “pricked” with unexpected questions, a thirst for details, etc. But this knowledge can be very useful, both in your personal life, and professional. It can protect against big problems and bitter disappointments. So let's summarize lie detection point by point.

If a person lies or hides something, then:

The expression of his emotions and reactions is somewhat slow compared to his usual narrative pace. Speech begins with a delay, continues more vigorously, and ends abruptly.
Some time passes between the words and the accompanying emotions. For example, they tell you that you did your job brilliantly and only then smile (after realizing what was said). A person who speaks sincerely will have an emotional coloring that is simultaneous with his words.
The expression on his face is completely inconsistent with what he is saying. For example, you hear the phrase: “I love you,” but you see a face as if a person ate a slice of lemon.
When expressing emotions, only part of the face is involved. For example, a person smiles exclusively with his mouth, and the muscles of the cheeks, eyes and nose remain motionless. In this case, the eyes really are the mirror of the soul, because learning to control their expression to order is incredibly difficult. That is why actors must get used to the role, live the hero’s story. Otherwise, the game is simply visible even through camera lenses.
When a person lies, he “shrinks”, tries to take up as little space as possible, presses his hands to himself, clenches his legs, presses himself into a chair.
Avoids meeting your eyes.
Constantly touches or scratches his nose, eyes, ears. Often with the left hand.
He tries to turn away from you with his whole body or turns away only his head.
During a conversation, he unconsciously places some objects between you: a vase, a mug, a book, a chair. Trying to create some kind of “protective barrier”.
When answering, he tries to use the words of your question: “Did you break grandma’s favorite mug from the blue set?”, “No, it wasn’t me who broke grandma’s favorite mug from the blue set!”
Answers to questions are unclear, “floating”, with double meaning.
The deceiver says more than necessary, adding unnecessary details to the story. When there is a pause in the conversation, he feels uncomfortable.
Speak in a confused manner, jumping from one logical phrase to another. Speech becomes grammatically incorrect and sentences become unfinished.
If you are convinced that you are being lied to, simply change the subject of the conversation. If you were right, the person will willingly change the subject, and even breathe a sigh of relief, perhaps even out loud.
To get around a “sensitive” topic, humor and sarcasm are actively used. The interlocutor tries to laugh it off, to avoid the question about which he will have to lie.

Based on these signs, it is quite easy to determine whether they are lying to you. But it is worth remembering that they apply best to people you know well. However, you should not become overly suspicious and strive to see falsehood in everything. After all, sometimes the confusion of the interlocutor’s speech can be explained by a stuttering experience, rubbing his neck - yesterday’s draft, fidgeting with his left foot on the floor - a pinching shoe, and external nervousness and an embarrassed look - sincere sympathy for you.

Lies have long become an integral part of every person’s life. When telling lies, people can be guided by different motives: deception can be purposeful, aimed at humiliating a person, or it can be unintentional, to save relationships between people.

In this article we will consider not so much the reasons for lying, but its signs. You will learn how to activate your internal “lie detector,” which will help you recognize by a person’s facial expressions and gestures whether he is lying or telling the truth.

The face is the mirror of the soul.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

How to recognize a lie by facial expressions?

Of course, you can use a device such as a lie detector, but this is a very expensive device, which, moreover, is quite bulky. Researchers have identified other ways to determine lies.

According to psychologists, a person who wants to deceive tries his best to pass off a lie as the truth. At the same time, lying is accompanied by certain gestures, body movements, and specific intonation.

No two people are absolutely alike. Everyone has a different worldview, everyone feels differently. People also lie in different ways. However, there is a whole set of signs according to which we can conclude that this is a liar.

Symmetry and lies

A person gets tense when he lies. And, despite the fact that he tries hard to hide it, it doesn’t always work out. In addition, the deceiver loses self-control. The tension is noticeable; you only need to observe the left side of the person's body.

You may ask - why on the left?

The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for human emotions and imagination.
The left hemisphere is responsible for the mind and speech.

From this we conclude that the left side is controlled somewhat weaker. However, both hemispheres maintain close contact with each other. What we want to demonstrate to others will appear on the right side, our feelings will be clearly visible on the left side.

What do the emotions and facial expressions on a liar’s face say?

When a person cheats, the sides of his body are not the same. For example, your opponent actively gestures with his left hand, but his right does not move. This shows one thing: the person is telling a lie. The brain thinks up lies while the body goes out of synchronicity.
Our face displays, perhaps, even more information that a person is lying. Asymmetry indicates a lie. Deceivers rub either their lower or upper lip and may cough while covering their mouth with their hand.
Lies tend to stress a person out. When a person cheats, his complexion changes, his eyelids begin to twitch, and his blinking frequency increases. The fact is that a person has a desire to close his eyes to everything that happens. By rubbing parts of the body, the brain wants to block the untruth. A slight squint indicates dissatisfaction.
Most people believe that shifting eyes indicate that a person is deceitful. But much more often the deceiver turns out to be the one who keeps looking into the eyes.
Typically, rubbing gestures indicate dishonesty. Psychologists say that a deceiver who is worried pulls the collar of his clothes or simply rubs his neck.
A person is given away by the position in which he sits or stands during a conversation. A self-controlled person can control himself, but he can give himself away by leaning back. The deceiver cannot find a comfortable position, this indicates that this situation is unpleasant for him.
The liar is nervous and does not feel comfortable, which affects the speed of speech. Some deceivers speak more slowly than they would normally, others speed up their pace.

Video: How to find out if a person is telling the truth?

How to recognize a lie by gestures?

Every average person in ordinary life inclined to pretend, to put on different masks, changing his role each time. Some of us are more sincere and change only in a formal setting. And some are already accustomed to lying (and do it more regularly than they eat). However, do not think that no one will detect a lie. This fact is instantly visible in the nonverbal language of the human body.

There are people who intuitively feel that they are being deceived. But not every one of us can easily perceive the dissonance between words and gestures. How can you guess what a person really thinks? And is it possible to spot a liar?

Of course you can. And even necessary! It was to reading the language of gestures and facial expressions that he dedicated his famous book “Body Language. How to read others' thoughts by their gestures" by famous Australian writer. Being very young, he had already managed to earn his first million. Including thanks to his ability to read non-verbal language.

What basic gestures and body movements indicate that the interlocutor is telling a lie?

Step back

If your colleague, during a conversation with you, leaned back with his whole body or only his head, or perhaps began to mark time at the moment when you asked him a question, then this indicates that he does not want to answer at all. And if so, then he is quite capable of lying to you.

Touching the face

Gestures associated with touching one's face usually inform us that a person is not telling the truth. This gesture is very typical for children who, having uttered a lie, very quickly cover their mouths, sometimes crossing their fingers. Less noticeable gestures are also characteristic of adults who already have self-control; hands strongly reveal a person.

However, not all gestures associated with touching the face indicate a person’s deceit. After all, when we sneeze, yawn and cough, we also touch our face. And this fact does not mean at all that the person is lying at this time.

If the gate presses

Observant people have long noticed that liars, who are afraid that their lies will be discovered, and who tremble at possible exposure, begin to fiddle with the collar clasp, protrude the collar of their suit, or simply touch their neck in some way.

Similar actions related to the neck, as well as periodic patting on it, can also indicate that the person has forgotten to fulfill what he promised you, and is now trying to find an excuse for himself.

Exaggeration of emotions

During a conversation, the face of a mentally healthy person always expresses some emotions or feelings. A face that expresses absolutely nothing is extremely rare. A person who tells a lie, on the contrary, has a face that is too lively in showing his feelings.

The artificiality of emotions, among other things, is complemented by overly expressive gestures. The whole face plays, but it doesn’t really play. And everyone can notice such unnaturalness of the interlocutor.

At the pace

Feeling “out of place” can affect the speed of speech of the person telling the truth. Only the pace of speech slows down for some, while for others it increases sharply. In addition, the intonation of the voice may change: for example, the deceiver may speak more in a high voice or, on the contrary, a little lower, coughing.

It is also worth paying attention to the volume of the voice at the end of the spoken phrase. The liar begins to speak too loudly, or, on the contrary, too quietly.

How can you expose a liar and avoid mistakes in your conclusions?

In order not to make a mistake, you need to study “body language” not only regarding gestures that clearly indicate that a person is lying. In addition, you need to know what body movements are typical for a person experiencing fear, boredom, self-doubt, delight, etc.

You should not draw rash conclusions based on any of the above gestures until you evaluate the person’s behavior as a whole.

It is important to note that being overly partial towards a person for whom we feel antipathy is often overly subjective. Therefore, all his gestures can be interpreted in a negative direction towards him.

Important Notes:

It is much easier to analyze a person’s behavior if you have communicated with him more than once. If something has changed in his behavior, it will be immediately noticeable, although not always. It happens that at the first glance at a person, discrepancies between body movements and words are already noticeable.
In nature, sometimes there are such skillful liars with the highest self-control that it is almost impossible to figure them out.

The spoken word was, yes and no, but the written word lives forever

During various studies non-verbal language communication, scientists have concluded that most often people lie to each other on the phone, followed by statistically private conversations. And least of all, people lie to each other in writing. After all, what is written with a pen cannot be cut down with an axe.

TO SUM UP: 30 main signs of lying

We all want to be able to distinguish lies from truth. After all, so often we become victims of deception when we did not expect it at all. This is so offensive! Don't fall for this hook again - liars can be recognized, they give themselves away! Your weapon is knowledge.

We have collected for you in one list the 30 main signs of lying. Be sure to read them and remember, everyone needs to know them.

Important clarification:
One of these signs is not enough to accuse a person of lying. Therefore, to be sure, you must detect at least several signs at once.
And, if you see 5 or more signs listed below in a person, then this is already a serious signal that he is deceiving you.

The easiest way to test the truth of a person is to ask him a question, for example: “Did you do this?” and if he clearly answers “no,” then most likely he is telling the truth. And if he answers vaguely, “How could you think that I did this”, “Do you think that I am capable of this?” - such answer options are more likely to indicate the interlocutor is lying.
The next favorite technique of liars is to laugh the question off. You ask him an awkward question that he doesn't want to answer, so he gets off with a joke.
Liars love to emphasize their exceptional honesty: they will constantly tell you the phrases “I swear to you,” “I give my hand to be cut off,” “But it’s true, because I never deceived you!”, etc.
Eye contact. During normal communication, people maintain eye contact on average 2/3 of the entire time of communication. But when a person lies, then most likely he will look at you much less often.
The desire to instill sympathy and empathy. For example, he will say: “I have a wife and children”, “I have”, or “I am the same as you, I understand you too”...
Answering a question with a question. You ask him, but he doesn’t want to answer specifically and asks counter questions. " You did it? - Why are you asking?".
The next sign of a liar is that he may refuse to answer for no apparent reason. It would seem that the question is harmless, but he simply “stops” and refuses to talk to you.
"Inhibited" emotions. It is normal when a person is told some shocking news and reacts to it with his emotions instantly. But if the liar knew about this in advance, then, of course, he will not be able to feign emotions believably. Therefore, pay attention if his emotional reaction does not follow immediately, but with a delay of several seconds.
For example, he stole money from you and you suspect that it could be him. You say: “Can you imagine, my money was stolen!” And only after 2-3 seconds he will make an amazing grimace, because it just took time to figure out what to do. A normal person would react instantly.
The next way to distinguish fake emotions is to pay attention to their protractedness. If the emotions are artificial and feigned, then they will very often last more than five seconds. The point is that in real life human emotions change very quickly, but if a person pretends and pretends to be surprised, then this will drag on for quite a long time.
"Dry sip". Liars have very dry throats and take very noticeable gulps. You can even watch their Adam's apple move. Therefore, if a person often swallows and coughs during a conversation, this means that he is very worried that he will be found out.
Asymmetry of facial expressions. A normal person in a calm state always has symmetrical facial expressions. That is, if we smile, we smile equally on both sides. But when you observe that one side of a person is stronger than the other, then most likely this emotion is feigned.
Frequent repetition of the question you asked. When a person is honest, he constantly uses different word forms. But when a person is lying, he will most likely repeat your question and your phrases and words.
Changing the pace of speech. For example, he spoke normally, and then suddenly slowed down. So-called hesitations during a conversation are also considered a sign of lying.
Hostile tone. The interlocutor answers very rudely and inadequately: “I don’t have to answer you!”, “I don’t want to talk to you!”, “I won’t answer in that tone!” - this is all an attempt to avoid an uncomfortable question.
A liar restrains himself when answering questions: he is forced to control himself so as not to blurt out too much.
If your opponent always waits a few seconds to think before answering, then most likely he was just wondering how to get out of this situation and lie plausibly.
"Running" eyes – classic sign lies. The person seems to be exploring the entire room around him.
You are often asked to “clarify” a question. This is nothing more than the same attempt to gain time to think about further actions.
Masking the essence of the answer with a mass of information not related to the question. Roughly speaking, when you ask about “Foma,” you get a detailed answer about “Erema.”
As a rule, a liar cannot give detailed explanation and avoids reporting details. And if you delve into the details, he will generally begin to get confused in them.
If at first the interlocutor answered the questions, but suddenly he lost all desire to talk, this means that he was simply tired of lying.
One of the most favorite attempts of liars is to move on to another topic.
Another sign of lying is that a liar will resist your attempt to get to the root of the problem. You will simply feel that he does not want you to get to the bottom of the truth.
How the person moves towards you. If a person is honest and does not hide anything, then on a subconscious level he will move closer and closer to you. And if your opponent is lying, understands this and is afraid of being discovered, then on the contrary, he moves away from you somewhat, thereby trying to get away from the problematic situation as quickly as possible.
Attempts to cause direct insult. This indicates a VERY nervous state.
Shifting from foot to foot will also indicate that the person is lying.
Covers your face, forehead or neck with your palm.
Scratching your nose or earlobe.
The appearance of trembling in the voice. Perhaps even the appearance of stuttering, if it was not there before.
If your interlocutor is lying, then often a slight smile appears on his face, and this smile has 2 reasons:
A way to relieve stress.
Masking true emotions.