Effective methods for identifying lies. How to recognize a lie: ways to expose a liar

Scientists have determined that the more accustomed a person is to lying, the more difficult it is to understand that he is telling a lie. But if you know how to identify lies by facial expressions and gestures, and have experience communicating with liars, then it is quite possible to recognize their insincerity. However, if a person rarely has to lie, then it is quite easy to figure him out.

Facial expressions of lies

First of all, a person’s lie is indicated by his excitement, signs of which can be detected in his gaze, movements and voice. You can notice how his speech, gestures and behavior have changed. For example, the following speech and voice parameters indicate that a person is lying to you. When a person is insincere, his intonation involuntarily changes, his speech becomes more drawn out, faster or slower. A trembling voice indicates false information. Its timbre may change, unexpected hoarseness or, conversely, high notes may appear. Some even begin to stutter a little.

How to determine the veracity of information by looking at it

If you want to know how to detect a lie by the eyes, then a running glance will help you. Of course, this does not mean insincerity at all. Perhaps the interlocutor is confused or embarrassed, but you should still think about the reliability of the information received. When a person is ashamed and embarrassed by his lies, he almost always looks away. At the same time, an excessively intent gaze may also indicate that they are telling you a lie. So the interlocutor monitors the reaction of the listener and analyzes whether his words are believed or not.

How a person's eyes reveal lies

When a person tells a lie, his eyes often give him away. Knowing what movements reveal a lie, you can learn to control them, but monitoring your eyes is much more difficult. A person who cheats feels uncomfortable, so he looks away from his opponent. Observe your interlocutor: if he diligently does not look you in the eyes, then this is the first sign of false information. But it is worth noting that many people know about this feature, and in order to hide the lie, they look a person straight in the eyes, which again is one of the signs of deceit. Liars try to appear honest, so the look comes out unnatural. As they say, honest people don’t have such honest eyes.

In addition, in an uncomfortable situation for a person, the pupil greatly decreases in size, and this is impossible to control. Look carefully at your interlocutor, and if his pupil is constricted, then he is lying to you.

There is one more sign that needs to be taken into account when determining a lie: pay attention to which direction your interlocutor’s gaze is directed. If he is looking to the right, then most likely he is lying to you. If to the right and up, he comes up with a picture, an image. If straight and to the right, he selects phrases and scrolls through sounds, if to the right and down, he has finished thinking about the situation and will now begin the story. But note that all these rules only work if the person is right-handed. If he is left-handed, he will look to the left.

How to spot a lie by facial expressions

When talking with a person, you should pay attention to his smile, and if it is not appropriate, then this indicates that he is deceiving you. This is explained by the fact that a person tries to hide his inner excitement behind a smile. If you carefully observe a person, you can recognize a lie by facial expressions. Liars are characterized by strong tension in the facial muscles, which does not last very long, just a few seconds. But, you must admit, it happens that the opponent lies with a straight face, which clearly indicates his insincerity.

Other indicators of deception

So, we found out how to detect a lie by the eyes. Let's look for other signs, such as involuntary reactions that a person cannot control: redness or paleness of the skin, frequent blinking, or periodic constriction and dilation of the pupils. Some other manifestations of emotions, individual for each person, may also be observed. They always accompany deception and help you understand whether they are telling you the truth.

What gestures can you use to detect a lie?

The psychology of lying is great for determining the credibility of information. If you believe the theory of the American researcher Alan Pease, then the interlocutor, trying to mislead his opponent, often accompanies his speech with the following actions.

1. Touching your face with your hands.
2. Touching your nose.
3. Rubbing the eyes.
4. Pulling the collar.
5. Covering your mouth.

Naturally, deceptive gestures do not necessarily indicate that a person is telling you a lie, since they should not be considered separately, but in conjunction with facial expressions and other factors that need to be analyzed taking into account the accompanying circumstances. That is, each reaction is not an independent indicator; it must be compared with other signs. And it is equally important to have an idea of ​​the so-called background state of each person, that is, to pay attention to his intonation, voice, gaze and gestures in everyday life.

How to correctly analyze and compare details

To understand how to identify a lie by people’s gestures, you need to communicate a lot, be attentive to others, be able to capture the smallest details in people’s behavior, and soberly assess the situation and current events. That is, it requires rich communication experience, the ability to analyze and compare all factors. Only in this case will you be able to distinguish truth from lies, focusing on facial expressions and gestures, and correctly assess the reliability of the information you hear.

Psychological portrait of a liar

There is no specific psychological portrait, since each person has his own individual signs of manifestation. The theory of lies is a set of laws, taking into account which one can determine whether a person is telling the truth or not. When you are having a conversation with someone, your face, like a mirror, reflects what you really feel and think. Some of them have to be hidden from others, but this does not mean that you need to completely control yourself, because otherwise others will treat you with distrust, as an insincere and fake person.

In general, it is not always possible to read his true feelings on a person’s face. There are rules to help determine how sincere your interlocutor is. Firstly, you should know that facial expressions of the forehead are much easier to control than the movement of the eyes and forehead, which means that it is in the upper part of the face that you should look for involuntarily appearing features that indicate deception. For example, when a person smiles falsely, he does not develop folds under the lower eyelids, which necessarily appear with a natural smile. One more thing: a fake smile occurs a little earlier than you expect it. Moreover, an unexpected smile always raises suspicion. You should be wary if the grin stays on your face for too long. When the interlocutor smiles naturally and at ease, it lasts no more than four seconds.

It has been noticed that many people find it difficult to look their interlocutor in the eye if he is deceiving him. This is why we don't trust a person with shifty eyes. Someone who lies often looks away from the other person, blinks more often than usual, or turns away completely. Be extremely careful, as these signals may not indicate a lie at all, but awkwardness, confusion or discomfort.

All people are different. The way of perceiving the world, thinking, and 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. Lying at a high level requires increased self-control, 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 in general 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 you directly in the 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.

It is always unpleasant to find out that you have been deceived. It is much better to understand when a person is not sincere with you, and not to become a victim of a liar. But how to recognize a lie? How to protect yourself from deception? In fact, it is not difficult, all you need is to know the gestures of lying. After all, intonation, facial expressions and gestures will always bring the deceiver to clean water.

Learn to read body language and gestures!

All people lie - it’s just a fact, a truth of life that cannot be avoided. Trying to achieve their goals, those around us (and we are no exception), at best, simply hide the truth, at worst, they deceive each other in the most vile way. Therefore, in our harsh and cruel world, where hypocrisy and lies are all around, it is so important to be independent of other people’s whims. In addition, there is something that gives away a lie and exposes the deceiver - these are gestures and facial expressions. So why not take advantage of this?

A person, as a rule, does not even notice what gestures accompany his dialogue, and, nevertheless, gestures and facial expressions are a subconscious demonstration of his true feelings, and if you learn to recognize these feelings, then you can easily expose the selfish goals of your interlocutor. Moreover, knowing the gestures of lying, you can learn to use them to your advantage, and correctly hide your feelings from others!

The subconscious is always against lies

Our subconscious is simply tailored 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:

• 1) facial microexpressions,
• 2) eye movements,
• 3) gestures,
• 4) body position,
• 5) pitch and timbre of voice, etc.

What is really in the soul of your family and friends, what are they thinking about? What do your work colleagues or boss think of you? What do they feel towards you? Is the neighbor’s sympathy sincere or is this friendly smile feigned? What is hidden in the interlocutor’s strange gaze: affection or disgust? What does the external coldness of the work management indicate: indifference or contempt? Body language and gestures, the psychology of lies, can provide answers to all these questions.

The psychology of nonverbal communication has made great strides forward; today, lie detection is already a science that can be studied and used independently, without resorting to the services of highly professional psychologists. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a business meeting, chatting with friends over a glass of wine, or a romantic date - the ability to recognize lies will always come in handy.
On our website you will get acquainted with the results of many years of research in the field of body language and facial expressions, understand how to recognize lies, learn to distinguish between hidden criticism and approval, read gestures of sympathy between men and women, recognize the true feelings, emotions and thoughts of your interlocutor.

When he pulls to the left

To recognize deception, you need to take a closer look at the left side of the human body. True emotions are revealed by the left side – the left half of the face, the left arm, the left leg. In the process of deception, it is very difficult to control emotions. If a person is disingenuous, it is difficult for him to “invent” lies and monitor his behavior in detail. Even if the deception is pre-prepared and carefully rehearsed, the person is internally tense, he controls his speech, and not his facial expressions and gestures. This tension can be obvious or hidden, but, one way or another, there are signals that give away this excitement, even if a person diligently tries to veil it.

So, what are the gestures of lying? Your interlocutor is not particularly frank with you if his left hand is constantly dangling out of place, for example, describing circles or some figures in the air with absolutely no meaning. A similar “informer” to its lying owner is the left leg, depicting figures on the sand or asphalt, drawing some lines and other elements that are not related to the topic of conversation.

Why is it necessary to look for signals of deception on the left side of the human body? 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. For example, when we notice that our right arm or leg is not “behaving” quite adequately and betrays our nervousness or lies, we can force it to calm down. As for the left side of our body, it is not always amenable to conscious control.

Recent scientific research has explained this pattern by saying that the left and right sides of the human body are 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. In this case, the control connections intersect, that is, 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.

Detecting lies. ABC of gestures.

The world-famous psychologist Paul Ekman made a great contribution to the field of determining lies. It was he who became the prototype for the hero of the popular TV series “The Theory of Lies” or, as it is also called, “Lie to Me.” The practicing psychologist is the author of such book bestsellers as: “The Psychology of Emotions”, “The Psychology of Lying”, “Why People Lie”, “Recognize a Liar by Their Facial Expression”. We bring to your attention the basics, so to speak, the alphabet of gestures.

The first and most important thing you need to know is that 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 hanging noodles on your ears. However, remember that it is necessary to evaluate the totality of the interlocutor’s gestures, and not the innocent scratching of a mosquito bite. So, gestures of lies.

Covering mouth with hand

If the interlocutor is not sincere, then his hand will cover his mouth, perhaps his thumb will be pressed to his cheek. At such a moment, he most likely thinks something like: “I wish I could get burned!” At the same time, some may even cough. The main thing is not to confuse it with the real flu.
It is also important to know that the same gesture can be used while a person is listening, and this is a completely different signal. In this case, he suspects you of lying or knows for sure that you are disingenuous.

Touching the nose

In fact, this is one of the variants of the previous gesture: 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. Agree, when a person’s nose really itches, he will simply scratch it, his movement will be clear and purposeful, it will not be a light touch.

A person also uses this gesture when listening to a lie, when he realizes that he is being misled.

Ear protection

When the interlocutor lies “big time” or knows for sure that he is listening to an outright unprincipled lie, he tries to isolate himself from the lies, no matter whether it comes from his own lips or from the lips of the interlocutor. At such moments, the hand covers the ear, as if protecting it, or lies next to it. The person is either already tired of composing, or demonstrates that he has heard enough and wants to speak out himself.

But don’t forget that the interlocutor may simply have a sore neck, a really itchy ear (it got stuck in the car) or watery eyes for one reason or another that has nothing to do with the topic of conversation.

Talking through clenched teeth

This gesture is a clear demonstration of deception. The speaker does not want to let out the deceitful “not a sparrow”, and tries to close his “birdhouse” (proverb: “A word is not a sparrow; if it flies out, you cannot catch it” - author’s note).

But, as in previous cases, this signal has a double meaning. Either lies or dissatisfaction. A person may be upset, upset, or irritated about something. Be careful: don’t run into trouble, don’t rush to shame him for cheating. Remember the totality of gestures, at least several.

Rubbing the eyelid

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.

Looking away

Men themselves are more balanced, and therefore they 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.

Neck scratching

A very interesting observation: a person begins to scratch the side of his neck or under his earlobe with the index finger of his right hand. Another fun fact: this gesture usually involves a person scratching five times. This gesture 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.

Pulling the collar

Scientists have proven that lying causes itching in the delicate muscle tissues of the neck and face. Therefore, the desire to scratch and calm these sensations is purely physiological. This is great: if the interlocutor pulls his collar, it means he is afraid that his lie will be discovered. The deceiver may even have beads of sweat on his face.

But! A person experiences the same impulses during anger, irritation, or frustration for any reason. At the same time, he will pull back his collar in order to cool down, cool down, and not allow his own irritation to spill out.

Therefore, first observe the person. And if you want to “finish off a liar,” there is a simple way to find out whether he is telling the truth or a lie. Ask your interlocutor about what he said, ask him to clarify or repeat, to explain. This will certainly force the deceiver to refuse to continue the conversation and stop lying further. In the second option, you will receive confirmation of the interlocutor’s bad mood: either diligently but openly restraining emotions, he will repeat the story, or he will break down and let his anger out - in any case, the reaction will be obvious.

Fingers in mouth

This gesture indicates that a person needs support in something, for example, in lying. These are “insidious games of the brain”; a person subconsciously tries to return to a cloudless, safe state in infancy, because then he did not need to be afraid of exposure, and certainly there was no need to lie. Perhaps the person is simply confused, he is ashamed in his soul, and he is looking for help and support. This looks very much like a gesture of desperation. Therefore, do not judge him strictly, do not reproach him, be merciful, help the liar get out of a delicate situation, especially if this is your friend.

Lies and psychology. How speech, facial expressions and gestures reveal.

After lengthy research on the topic: “Lies, psychology,” 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, and most importantly, to its accessibility. After analyzing more than 60 scientific papers, he prepared a practical guide for security and police workers, which identifies the most characteristic signs of behavior that indicate a lie. And so, the rules.

Brevity is the sister of... lies?

As it turned out, a person who wants to deceive, when answering a question, in the vast majority of cases tries to say as little as possible. It would be logical to assume that such people would tell a pre-prepared story eloquently and convincingly, but no. The vast majority of liars prefer to speak briefly and “to the point.”

The catch is in the details

Despite the taciturnity of deceivers, they tend to spontaneously, out of place, delve into details. When no one asks them to do this, liars begin to explain, to give explanations to the few facts that they mentioned. Involuntarily trying to give greater weight to what was said, to confirm its veracity, the liar begins to delve into non-existent details, and his short answer becomes overgrown with numerous small details.

Repetition is the mother of... lies?

Before answering a question, as a rule, deceivers repeat it out loud. Probably to delay the time needed to write an answer.

An inquisitive look fails

Typically, liars pay close attention to how listeners react to what they say. They just need to make sure, to make sure that they are believed.

Slow means uncertain

Often, deceivers 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 thought, making sure that everything is fine, or simply realizing that an unusual manner of speech can alert the listener, they quickly lay out everything else. Speaking what he thinks, a person is not worried about the pace of speech, it does not matter to them whether they speak quickly or slowly, but the deceiver is afraid that slow speech may seem suspicious. An honest person pronounces the beginning and end of one sentence at the same speed.

He doesn’t say anything, it means he’s lying

Liars are significantly more likely than others to use incomplete sentences. They may start answering a question from the end and never finish a logical sentence. Sometimes speech at random is so eloquent that no scientific research is needed, and everything is clear.

Gestures of lies

When talking about “sensitive” topics, deceivers either bite their lips, straighten their hair or makeup, or itch. These actions indicate anxiety, but not necessarily that the person is not telling the truth. Gesticulation directed towards oneself indicates deception; gestures from oneself indicate the opposite.

And again, insidious details

If you ask those who tell the truth about the details, they will provide additional information. Liars try not to go into details, because they are ill-conceived, like the main lie.

Attack is the best defense

By saying directly that you doubt the veracity of the story, even if you do it delicately and, giving compelling arguments, the deceiver will probably immediately attack you: “So I’m lying according to you!?! So that's your opinion of me! 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, convince you, or, if you were tactless, he will simply 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.

How can you spot a lie for sure?

To finally verify the veracity or falsity of what was said, scientists offered detectives simple technical techniques. We offer you one of them.

Step one: “Talk the liar.” Ask the person to retell all the events again, 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 the 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.

Step two: “The right questions.” Ask the narrator the right questions. They should have no expected answers; don’t make up the answer for him, don’t make it 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, therefore, he will have to quickly strain his brains 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.

Step three: “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.

Let's summarize how to recognize a lie

And finally, let's sum it up. 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 and professional life, it can protect you from big problems and bitter disappointments. So let's summarize lie detection point by point.

If a person lies or hides something, then:

• 1. The expression of his emotions and reactions is somewhat slowed down, not usually. Speech begins with a delay, continues more vigorously, and ends abruptly.
• 2. Some time passes between 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.
• 3. 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.
• 4. 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, the game is simply visible even through camera lenses.
• 5. When a person lies, he “shrinks”, tries to take up as little space as possible, presses his hands to himself, clenches his legs, squeezes into a chair.
• 6. Avoids meeting your eyes.
• 7. Constantly touches or scratches his nose, eyes, ears. Often with the left hand.
• 8. Tries to turn away from you, either entirely or just his head.
• 9. 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”.
• 10. When answering, he tries to use the words of your same 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!”
• 11. Answers to questions are unclear, “floating”, with double meaning.
• 12. The deceiver says more than necessary, adding unnecessary details to the story. When there is a pause in the conversation, he feels uncomfortable.
• 13. Speak in a confused manner, jumping from one logical phrase to another. Speech becomes grammatically incorrect and sentences become unfinished.
• 14. 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.
• 15. To avoid 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. And why darken your life with suspicions, when the confusion of your interlocutor’s speech can be explained by an experienced stutter, rubbing his neck by yesterday’s draft, fidgeting with his left foot on the floor by a pinching shoe, and external nervousness and an embarrassed look by sincere sympathy for you.

A little more about how to recognize a lie:

With rare exceptions, each of us feels the need for communication, this is how humans are designed.

People share information with each other, jointly develop new ideas, get acquainted and start relationships, are charged with positive and negative emotions - all this happens through communication.

Due to the exceptional importance of this process in all areas of life, we are often very upset when they lie to us, and we do not notice it. Probably, learning to recognize a lie, so that it is certain and always, is the blue dream of humanity. Unfortunately, this is hardly possible, if only because people often cannot distinguish even their own inventions from reality.

However, in order to suspect something is wrong and keep your ears open, you don’t even need special equipment - during a conversation, it’s enough to pay attention to some indirect signs that your interlocutor involuntarily manifests, which can confirm or refute his words.

A lie, as a rule, is inconvenient for the one who comes up with it. He feels discomfort, nervousness, fear that he may be exposed, even when it concerns something completely harmless. And when we are talking about something serious that can affect a person’s future life, if the truth is revealed, then only a person with good self-control can behave correctly at such moments. But even in this case, if you know what to look for, you can find clear signs indicating a person’s nervousness, as well as in which places in his stories and answers it manifests itself most acutely. Let's look at these signs.

Speech

In our communication, words directly account for 20-40% of the information transmitted, that is, less than half. Everything else is nonverbal (that is, nonverbal) information. Methods of its transmission are studied by such a branch of linguistics as paralinguistics.

Pauses- the most common sign of deception. They can either be too long or too frequent. The presence of interjections - “um”, “well”, “uh” - also indicates that they may be telling you a lie or not telling you something.

Raising the tone- a likely sign. Speech becomes louder and faster, and the person experiences excitement. The reasons may be different - anger, delight, fear. But it could also be a lie.

Useless facts. To make a story convincing, people try to saturate their fictional story with real events that are far from the subject of conversation. For example, if you want to find out in detail about the people your interlocutor met, what he, for example, needs to hide, then you will hear detailed micro-stories about how wonderful the food was, how wonderful the weather was, what emotions were caused by certain everyday events, and about people can only be said in passing. In a word, they will clearly draw a vast background for you, but in the center of the picture they will only sketch a blurry sketch.

“Guess for yourself” answer. You need to make sure that the person answers directly, without necessarily correcting him and thereby putting pressure on him. Remember that a question asked to a question is only an indirect answer.
If you asked, “Did you watch TV today?” and were told, “Well, you know that I couldn’t do that?” - then you need to understand that this is avoiding a direct answer. Although it should be noted that people can answer this way only because they are offended by a lack of confidence in themselves and do not consider it necessary to answer directly.
Another option for an indirect answer is when you are also asked to think out what was said yourself, but are not told directly, for example, to the question “Are you sure you can fix this?” may be followed by the phrase “My friends consider me an excellent master!” From it we can conclude that the person is not confident in his abilities, but he does not want to admit it.

As you asked, so they answered you. Frequent and precise use of phrases from your question, as well as complete repetition of the question before the person begins to answer, may indicate insincerity. In such situations, your interlocutor does not have time to think of what to answer, so he uses your own words or stalls for time before answering in order to have time to construct a plausible version.

An anecdote instead of an answer. Pay attention to the “funny” answers. You asked, they answered you wittily, you appreciated it, laughed and moved on to another question, or you didn’t bother bothering this funny interlocutor anymore - a common situation. But you need to think about it, if a person often laughs it off instead of answering directly, perhaps he is doing it on purpose.

Speech at different speeds. Frequent coughing, attempts to clear the throat, a sudden change in speech from normal to faster or slower may mean that the person is nervous, perhaps lying. This is also indicated by any objectively unconditional change in the speaker’s voice or tone.

If, during the process of telling a story, a person goes back in the course of the story and adds something to it: he clarifies it, says that he forgot to mention something, adds details, then this indicates a sincere story. It’s difficult to remember a story made up on the fly, add to it in the middle, and then continue to think from the end - there is a high probability of getting lost and confused

Body

First of all, you should pay attention to the posture of the interlocutor

“Closed poses” - crossed arms and legs - are well known. They say, at a minimum, that the interlocutor is not very inclined to communicate with you. A person may look relaxed, but attempts to hide his hands, fold them on his chest or lock them on his knees give him away. It’s not a fact that he’s lying to you, but he clearly wants to hide something from you, not to let it slip.

It happens that a liar shrinks, as if he is trying to take up as little space as possible.

Another pose: if a person takes a step back during a conversation, most likely he himself does not believe what he is telling you.

There are “slips in gestures”, a kind of non-verbal leaks of information. Not every liar makes them, but if they happen, it is a reliable sign of his intentions.

If a person touches his face with his hands: scratches his nose, covers his mouth, then these are signs that he is subconsciously closing himself off from you, putting a barrier between you.

The most common gestures of deception:

Other deceptive gestures include:

Rubbing your earlobe.
Let's get back to our monkeys! This is a “I don’t hear anything” gesture. It is usually accompanied by a glance to the side. Variants of this gesture: rubbing the earlobe, scratching the neck behind the ear, picking (sorry) in the ear or twisting it into a tube.

Scratching the neck.
Typically, people do this with the index finger of the hand they are writing with. The average person scratches their neck 5 times a day. This gesture means doubt. That is, if a person tells you something like “Yes, yes! I completely agree with you” and at the same time reaches out to scratch his neck, this means that in fact he does not agree and doubts.

Fingers in mouth.
The most striking character with a finger in his mouth is Dr. Evil from the film about Austin Powers. He almost always keeps his little finger near his mouth. This is an unconscious attempt by a person to return to a state of security that is usually associated with infancy and sucking on the same pacifier. An adult sucks a cigar, a pipe, glasses, a pen, or chews gum. Most touching of the mouth is associated with deception, but it also indicates that the person needs approval. Perhaps he is lying because he is afraid that you will not like the truth.

Pay attention to such a gesture as extended middle finger. It can simply lie on the knee, or the person accidentally touches his face with it. This is a gesture of hostility and hidden aggression: the interlocutor seems to send you to hell.

You should also notice if the interlocutor shifts from foot to foot or in general takes a small step back. This indicates a desire to leave, to distance themselves from you, so as not to give something away.
It is especially important to pay attention to backward movements when asking questions. If the respondent's head moves sharply back or down- this is perhaps also an attempt to close.

Emotions

A person's behavior differs dramatically depending on whether he is telling the truth or lying.

If a lie occurs, then the person’s emotions will be much deeper and more sensual. Any lie implies the presence of a certain mask that a person puts on himself and builds an appropriate line of behavior. Often, the “mask” and other emotions are mixed together. For example, a slight smile is a mask of pleasure, if this feeling is not actually experienced, it is mixed with signs of fear, sadness, disgust or anger. In the case of sincere joy, our gaze will see not only a smile, but also the movement of the muscles located around the eyes.

Bad reaction. Monitor the other person's emotions as the conversation progresses. If a person is hiding something from you, then emotions can be expressed late, remain on the person’s face for an unusually long time, and then suddenly disappear, appearing before you finish the phrase.
This happens because a person thinks intensely about something of his own, does not maintain the thread of the conversation well, and demonstrates emotions that he does not actually feel.

Facial expressions that last 5-10 seconds are usually fake. Most genuine emotions only appear on the face for a few seconds. Otherwise they will look like a mockery. For example, surprise that lasts for more than 5 seconds in a person is a false emotion.
A sincere person's words, gestures and facial expressions are synchronized. If someone shouts: “I’m so tired of you!”, and an angry facial expression appears only after the remark, the anger is most likely fake.

American psychologist Paul Ekman studied people's facial expressions and counted a total of 46 independent facial movements. However, he found that in combination with each other they can convey about 7,000 unique emotions! Interestingly, many of the muscles that move the face are not controlled by consciousness. This means that a fake smile will always, albeit slightly, differ from the real one.

Behavior during provocations

Increased breathing, heaving of the chest, frequent swallowing, protruding perspiration - these are signs of strong feelings. It is possible that they are lying to you. Blushing is a sign of embarrassment, but you can also become embarrassed from shame for lying.

Do you like field hockey? If you try to abruptly change the subject, the person telling the lie will take it with relief and support your initiative, because he understands that the less you talk to him, the less chance he has of “messing up” and giving himself away. If the interlocutor is sincere, then his natural reaction will be a misunderstanding of the reason for changing the topic, dissatisfaction that his story was not heard to the end. He will try to return to the topic of conversation.

I don't like you guys... If you have doubts about the veracity of the interlocutor’s words, MirSovetov advises to implicitly show that you do not believe the interlocutor’s story: after his answer to the next question, pause, look closely, with distrust. If they are not honest with you, it will cause embarrassment and uncertainty. If a person tells the truth, then he often begins to get irritated and stare at you. The following changes can be noted in it: embarrassment disappears, lips compress, eyebrows frown.

Eye movements

It is true that the eyes are the mirror of the soul. A person is designed in such a way that the eyes actively participate in the process of thinking.

They take position depending on which area of ​​the brain is involved at the moment. Knowing this, we can assume what the brain is doing at one time or another in the dialogue: coming up with something new or processing real information.

If a person confidently wants to defend his lie and lies consciously, he tries to maintain eye contact. He looks soulfully into your eyes. This is to know if you believe his lies.

And when a person is taken by surprise and wants to lie so that everyone will forget about it, he immediately switches your attention: he goes into another room, supposedly on business, or starts tying his shoes, sorting out papers and muttering something under his breath...

However, sometimes a person looks into the eyes in the hope of seeing support. He may not lie, but he can be very unsure of his rightness.

Watch for blinking. When they lie, they often blink involuntarily, because for many, lying is still a . But, in addition, increased blinking may mean that the subject of conversation is unpleasant to him and causes pain. And the less often a person blinks, the happier he is at that moment.

When asking a question, pay attention to the eye movement at the moment when the person answers. When a person is really trying to remember all the details and tell you, they look to the right. When a person comes up with ideas, his gaze goes to the left.

Usually when a person remembers (invents) he looks not just to the side, but down (down right, down left)

See a diagram by neurolinguistic psychologists that tells you what eye movements indicate.

Let's imagine that the picture shows the face of your interlocutor. Further, in order to avoid confusion, we will agree to write in relation to you when you look at the “interlocutor’s face”, and in brackets there will be instructions regarding the face depicted in the diagram

You see that the other person's eyes

• They're watching to your left and up(the person looks at the upper right corner), this indicates the construction of the picture.
• To your right and up(for him this is the upper left corner) - access to visual memory.
• They're watching left(right side for the interlocutor) - comes up with a sound,
• right(left side for him) - tries to remember what he heard.
• Eyes below and left(lower right corner) - checking sensations and feelings.
• Below and to the right(lower left corner) - reflects on the situation, talks to himself.
• If the look direct, then the person perceives the information.

For example, if you asked your boss about the salary date, and while answering, he looked down and to the right relative to you, then he thought about it for the first time and is forming an answer “on the fly”, thinking. And if he just turns to the right, it means he’s saying what he heard before from his superiors.

Pay attention to this nuance: if you are talking to a left-handed person, then the left and right sides are mirror opposites. This is also true for right-handers, in whom the left hemisphere still predominates over the right, for example, the so-called. retrained lefties.

There is an opinion that a direct look eye to eye symbolizes the sincerity of a person, but if the eyes are averted, then they say that someone is “hiding” his eyes and hiding something. In reality, this is not the case. During a conversation, it is often necessary to break eye contact in order to focus on a thought, think, or remember.
Based on materials from bskltd.ru, mirsovetov.ru

Interesting fact:

Scientists from the State University of New York at Buffalo have developed a high-tech polygraph. Based on eye movements, it recognizes when a person is telling the truth and when he is lying. According to the researchers, their system is able to detect false statements with an accuracy of more than 80%.

The new system was tested on volunteers. Before the experiment began, they were asked to guess whether they had stolen a check that was made out to a political party they did not support. An interrogator sat next to the subjects, who first asked questions that were not related to the topic, and then directly asked about “theft.”

At this time, the program, using web cameras, monitored the violation of the trajectory of eye movement, the speed of blinking and the frequency with which the participants in the experiment shifted their gaze. As a result, the system was able to successfully detect lies in 82.2% of cases, while for experienced investigators this rate was about 60%.

How to recognize a lie by facial expressions and gestures:

It should be noted that just as in nature there are no two identical personalities, each person is individual in his own way, so there is no universal set of signals that detect lies. Therefore, all signs must be carefully analyzed in the context of the current situation, and pay attention to both the voice and emotions, and do not forget about body movements. The tongue can lie, but the body cannot lie.

However, be careful and do not make hasty conclusions, no matter how insightful people you are, because even Sherlock Holmes once suspected a girl of a terrible crime, mistaking her awkward gesture for an attempt to hide the truth. Later it turned out that the girl was simply embarrassed by her unpowdered nose: o).

What do you think

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In nature, no two people are the same. We are all different. We see, hear and think differently. And we also have different times. Therefore, there is no standard set of lying gestures indicating that we are telling a lie. But if he had, we would have found a way to deceive him. Deception is noticeable when it evokes emotions (excitement, fear or shame). These emotions are conveyed. But confirmation of a lie must be sought in the totality of facial expressions, gestures and speech.

THE TRUTH IS SOMEWHERE ON THE LEFT

Lying requires self-control and effort. Tension can be obvious or hidden, but it is easy to notice by looking closely at the left side of the body. It is less controlled than the right one. This is because the left and right sides of the body are controlled by different hemispheres of our brain.

The left hemisphere is responsible for speech and mental activity, the right hemisphere is responsible for imagination. Since the control connections intersect, the work of the left hemisphere is reflected on the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere is reflected on the left.

What we want to show to others is reflected on the right side of our body, and what we actually feel is reflected on the left.

For example, if a person is right-handed and gestures a lot with his left hand, this may mean that he is lying, especially if his right hand is used less. Any inconsistency between body parts indicates insincerity.

“The brain is so busy making up lies that the body loses synchrony” (c) Dr. Lightman, “The Theory of Lies”

The face, like the body, conveys two messages at once - what we want to show and what we would like to hide. Disharmony in facial expressions indicates a contradiction. Symmetry always speaks of purity of intentions.

For example, if a person smiles, and the left corner of his mouth is raised less than the right, then, obviously, what he hears does not make him happy - he is feigning joy. It is also interesting that positive emotions are reflected evenly on the face, while negative ones are more noticeable on the left side.

DECEPTION IS STRESSING

Changes in complexion (pallor, redness, spots) and twitching of small muscles (eyelid, eyebrow) indicate what a person is experiencing and help to identify deception.

Tension, which manifests itself in frequent blinking, squinting or rubbing your eyelids, is an unconscious desire to close your eyes to what is happening. With rubbing gestures, our brain tries to block a lie, doubt or unpleasant sensation.

How comfortable or uncomfortable the interlocutor is can be judged by his pupils: their narrowing indicates dissatisfaction, dilation indicates pleasure. And by his eye movements it is easy to understand whether he is going to tell the truth or lie.

If a person averts his eyes, this does not mean that he is insincere. Often the one who looks intently into the eyes, trying only to appear open, is not completely honest.

LIES AT THE TIP OF THE NOSE

Unexpectedly, the deceiver’s own nose can give him away. By telling a lie, he unconsciously begins to move the tip of his nose and move it to the side. And people who doubt the honesty of their interlocutor may involuntarily flare their nostrils, as if saying: “I smell something dirty here.”

The nose is generally extremely sensitive to deception: it itches and even enlarges (“Pinocchio effect”). Scientists have found that deliberate lying increases blood pressure and stimulates the body's production of catecholamine, which affects the nasal mucosa.

High blood pressure affects the nerve endings in the nose, causing it to itch. Gestures that somehow involve “rubbing,” such as someone rubbing their eyes, touching their nose, and scratching their neck, indicate insincerity.

AND THE HANDS – HERE THEY ARE

When the interlocutor puts his hands in his pockets and closes his palms, these are gestures of lies or insincerity: he is hiding something or not saying anything. Remember children: they hide their hands in their pockets or behind their backs if they have done something wrong.

Hidden palms can be compared to a closed mouth. Experienced salespeople always look at the client’s palms when they talk about refusing a purchase. True objections are made with open palms.

And with a hand covering his mouth, a person restrains himself so as not to say anything unnecessary. Afraid of spilling the beans, he unconsciously tenses or bites them. Watch your interlocutor's facial expressions: a pursed lower lip indicates a contradiction: the person is not sure of what he is saying.

“People lie freely with their mouths, but the faces they make at the same time still tell the truth.” (c) Dr. Lightman, “The Theory of Lies”

The way he sits can also tell a story about your interlocutor. If he chooses an unnatural position and cannot sit down, this indicates that he is uncomfortable with the situation or the topic raised.

Liars often bend over, cross their legs and arms, and seek outside support, leaning on some object (table, chair, briefcase). Truthful people rarely change their body position and stay straight when answering questions.

THERE IS NO HONESTY IN “HONESTLY”

Our speech is no less eloquent than the language of gestures and facial expressions. If you receive an evasive answer to a direct question, accompanied by the expression “to be honest,” then listen to the speech of your interlocutor. It is worth doubting his sincerity when repeating phrases like:

1. You just have to trust me...
2. Trust me, I'm telling the truth...
3. You know me, I am not capable of deceiving...
4. I am absolutely frank with you...

“You said it once - I believed it, you repeated it and I doubted it, you said it a third time and I realized that you were lying,” said the Eastern sages.

“There are more pauses in a false story than in a truthful one,” concluded Professor Robin Lickley. An overly detailed story is also unlikely to be true - unnecessary details only create plausibility.

A change in the rhythm and timbre of the voice can also give away deception. “Some people are always slow with the next sentence. If they start chattering, it’s a sign of lying,” says Paul Ekman.

When we tell the truth, we use gestures to reinforce what is said, and the gestures match the tempo of speech. Gestures that do not fall in time with speech indicate a contradiction between what we think and say, i.e. to lies.

IF YOU THINK THAT YOUR PARTNER IS LYING:

1. Adapt to him: copy his posture and gestures. By mirroring, you will establish trust and make it more difficult for the deceiver to lie.
2. Don’t bring him to light and don’t blame him. Pretend you didn’t hear and ask again. Give the other person a chance to tell the truth.
3. Ask more direct questions. Actively use facial expressions and gestures, causing him to respond.

Cornell University communications professor Jeffrey Hancock studied 30 college students over the course of a week and found that the telephone was the most common means of deception.

People lie on the phone 37% of the time. This is followed by personal conversations (27%), online messengers (21%) and emails (14%). We feel more responsible for what we write than for what we say.

Outgoing people lie more often than introverted people, and they feel more comfortable lying and persist longer in their lies.

Psychologist Bella DePaulo came to the following conclusions:

Men and women lie equally often, but women usually do this to make the interlocutor feel more comfortable, and men - to present themselves in a more favorable light.

Men and women behave differently when they lie. Telling lies makes women feel less comfortable than men.

Scientists have found that a person begins to lie after his thinking reaches a certain level of development, approximately this occurs at the age of 3-4 years.