How Can You Tell When Someone Is Truthful Or Lying?
- Brainz Magazine
- Dec 2, 2021
- 6 min read
Written by: Janette Ghedotte, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We all hate lies, yet the average person is a poor lie spotter. When people are not paying attention and do not know what to look for, then deception easily passes through their BS detector. Liars get away with deception more than we realize.
In addition, people often misinterpret or misjudge discomfort signals in the face or the body as deception indicators. For example, if someone hesitates, stutters, averts eye contact, blinks rapidly, turns red, avoids the question, gives evasive non-answers, twitches, shrugs the shoulders, rubs the skin or clothing, fidgets, rocks or self-hugs… does that automatically mean that the individual is lying?
The majority of people across the world and from different cultures would answer “YES.” They believe these behaviors, along with fear, shame, or cognitive difficulties are associated with deceit (Bond & Robinson, 1988; Edman, 2001).
In A World of Lies (2006), The Global Deception Research Team asked over 2300 participants from 58 countries the question, “How can you tell when people are lying?” According to the research findings from A World of Lies (2006), here are the top 6 responses to the question, “How can you tell when people are lying?”
63.66% of the participants answered eye aversion as their number one deception indicator,
28.15% reported that liars are nervous,
25.30% said lies are incoherent;
25.04% said deception is revealed in body movements,
over 20% cited facial expressions,
over 20% cited inconsistent answers.
Despite these worldwide deception beliefs, experimental research indicates that very few of the stereotypical behaviors accurately and reliably point to deceit (DePaulo et al., 2003). Eye aversion, as well as the other facial and body language gestures, occur in truth tellers as well as liars. Therefore, people may prematurely judge a facial expression or a body language gesture as deceptive. One clue is simply one piece of a broader story of what is really going on internally with the individual, relationally among the individuals involved in the communication, or what is happening externally in the situation or environment.
In order to get closer to the truth, it is important to be like a detective: investigate, gather additional intel, and cluster the clues in order to figure out what may have contributed or triggered deviation from baseline behaviors, discomfort, or distress.
Do you know how to discriminate discomfort from lies? Or, discriminate lies from the truth? There is a big difference between discomfort and lying. Depending on the circumstances and the specific individuals, truthful people can display discomfort cues even when they are telling the truth. We all know worried, nervous, or fidgety people who display stereotypical facial, speech, or body language behaviors in their baseline that may be perceived as deceptive by others.
Bond and DePaulo (2006) analyzed the “Accuracy of Deception Judgments.” Their research findings indicate that people were accurate in their deception judgments on average slightly better than 50%. The odds of detecting deception are a little better than a flip of a coin. The research subjects were 61% accurate in spotting the truth and only 47% accurate in spotting deception.
How accurate is your BS detector? You may be surprised to learn that you miss more clues than you catch when you interact with others. You can improve the accuracy of your deception detection radar by activating your senses, paying attention, and becoming skilled in body language and statement analysis.
It appears that liars have an edge regarding being believed and getting away with deception. There is a truth bias. We tend to trust people we know, especially if they are family, friends, or people in our social or business network. We want to believe more than disbelieve. Therefore, people are more likely to believe lies. Interestingly, lies delivered through audio methods are easier to catch compared to lies delivered through visual or face to face methods.
Attention, active listening, and body language training improve the accuracy of detecting facial and body language distress or deception “tells.” It is important to note that extraordinary liars (i.e., those who meet DSM-5 criteria for antisocial, narcissistic, or borderline personality disorders) often appear calm, cold, or unaffected when they lie. When you do not know the character traits of extraordinary liars and do not know how their brain and body reactions are different than ordinary liars, then you can become an easy target for deception.
To reduce the chance of being duped, pay close attention when you are interacting with others because people display body language clues that reveal their emotions, reactions, and internal thoughts in the moment. Both verbal and nonverbal communication are being exchanged; but, are you catching the clues of what is being conveyed? Although speech may pause or stop, the body keeps “talking” even in silence.
When observing body language, it is important to access moments of ease and unease. The timing of comfort or discomfort cues indicate how well things are going in the dialogue or interaction. Infractions of a second, the body reacts. Pay attention and notice any deviations (especially discomfort or distress) from the individual’s normal, neutral, or baseline behaviors. Then, assess what happened immediately before the changes occurred as these are the antecedents or stimuli that contributed to or triggered the body reaction.
Furthermore, when the stakes are high and a liar does not want to get caught, then the motivation to lie can increase. Bond and DePaulo (2006) results confirm that lies are easier to identify from truths when liars are motivated to keep lies from being revealed. Here are 5 Accurate Body Language MAGIC Steps to go beyond the myths and stereotypes of spotting deception so that you can get closer to the truth:
1. M: Motivation. Behavior is influenced by motivation. Consider possible internal motivation(s) of the person’s specific behaviors. What does he/she gain or lose if the lie is exposed? What is at stake? The higher the stakes of what can be gained or lost, the greater the motivation to lie for some individuals.
2. A: Ask strategic questions during baseline period and after you notice deviations from the baseline. Compare and obtain more intel about the body language reactions during baseline and after changes occur in their reactions.
3. G: Gestures. What body language gestures are displayed during baseline and after stimuli occur? Notice where in the face or body these gestures are displayed. And, then see if there are patterns in the gestures.
4. I: Investigate and interpret the indicators. Investigate and go deeper to discover what the body language gestures are telling you and what may be contributing to the gestures. Cluster the clues so that you gain greater clarity of what is going on with the individual(s) in the situation.
5. C: Congruency or contradictions. Are the body language gestures congruent with the verbal words? Or, do the words and the body contradict?
When the words say one thing and the body reveals something else… what are you going to believe? The WORDS or the BODY?
Believe the BODY.
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Janette Ghedotte, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Truth & Deception Detection Expert Janette Ghedotte is a MA LLP Clinical Psychologist, Founder, and CEO of Accurate Body Language.
Accurate Body Language is the KEY to crack the code, unlock the vault of nonverbal communication, and reveal the secrets of human interaction.
With over 20 years of corporate business, marketing research, advertising & strategic brand positioning, and clinical psychology experience, Janette specializes in understanding the complexities of human behavior, interpersonal relationships, verbal, and nonverbal body language communication.
Reference:
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
A World of Lies. (2006). Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37(1), 60–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022105282295
Bond, Charles & DePaulo, Bella. (2006). Accuracy of Deception Judgments. Personality and social psychology review: an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. 10. 214-34. 10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_2.
Bond, C. F., Jr., & Robinson, M. A. (1988). The evolution of deception. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 12, 295-308.
DePaulo, B. M., Lindsay, J. J., Malone, B. E., Muhlenbruck, L., Charlton, K., & Cooper, H. (2003). Cues to deception. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 74-118.
Ekman, P. (2001). Telling lies: Clues to deceit in the marketplace, politics, and marriage (rev. ed.). New York: Norton.
