10 Ways To Know If Someone Is Lying To You
This article gives you 10 possible signs or ways to look out for in other to detect for yourself if one is lying to you.
No lie detector machine or application is needed in this case, just be your own lie detector.
Excessive Gestures
According to a study in 2015, liars move their hands more than truth tellers. Taking a court into consideration, when people lie in cases, they move their hands more than those telling the truth. Gestures help to release nervous energy and since liars need a physical outlet to release stress, some shake their legs, others tap their fingers and in some cases they shake their hands.
Deceptive Scowls
A liar may sometimes try to cover their tracks with bullet proof stories, but sometimes a lie can be read directly on someone’s face. Liars are in most cases likely to express negative emotions on their face. For example, asking someone whether they have ever cheated on a test? Their answers are important but their physical reaction is more telling. Truth tellers will express surprise or confusion when asked a difficult question. Liars on the other hand unconsciously scowl or frown, they know they have to lie and that creates stress on their face.
Keeping Eyes Open
Many people think liars avoids eye contact so their fooled by people who maintain steady eye contacts the conversation. The truth is, good liars have no problem looking into people’s eyes. A study in real life court cases proves that liars keep their eyes wide open while they talk. Good liars also look directly at the person asking them questions. When a good liar want to deceive someone they maintain steady and confident eye contacts. Liars will stare too long and avoid closing their eyes meanwhile truth tellers are more flexible with their gaze.
Autonomic Distress
Lying places emotional stress on the body and brain, this stress triggers physical reactions which show themselves in small but telling ways. Lying primarily affects the autonomic nervous system which controls a number of unconscious processes like heart rate, breathing rate and digestion. Lying stimulates reaction which can escalate heart and breathing rate. To know someone is lying to you under this point, liars usually blink, cough, sweat, swallowing.
Distant Pronouns
Liars tell stories more differently than truth tellers. The next time you are listening to a suspicious story pay attention to the pronuons. First and second person pronouns like I, me and you show a personal attachment to the story. Truth tellers have no problem using these pronouns because they are telling the truth and they have nothing to hide. Liars subconsciously change the pronouns they use, because third person pronouns like he, she and they create distance between the story and the storyteller. Liars already know they are not telling the truth so they use pronouns to create mental space which is hard to spot.
Jumps In Volume
When someone is lying their emotions influence the way they communicate. Like let say you are having a normal conversation with your friend, you are talking comfortably back and forth when certainly their voice changes, it gets loud and harsh and out of nowhere it feels like their scolding or yelling at you. When you lie you lose control of your voice which increases your volume and changes your tone. If you think someone is lying to you, just pay attention to their voice and tone.
Telling The Truth
Many Liars especially those who don’t often tell lies use phrases like, ‘to be honest’, ‘to tell the truth’ when they are about to lie. Note, If someone was really telling the truth they wouldn’t need to remind you, if someone is an honest person, they wouldn’t tell you they being honest.
Major Mistakes
Sometimes people just make mistakes, you misremember names, you forget how things happened, but there is a huge difference between a small slip and a big lie. Let say you ask a friend what they did last night. They tell you they stayed home and watched a movie, you ask them what movie they watched and they get the name wrong. Is it a lie or just a mistake? What if this happened instead, you ask the same question, and again they say they stayed home and watched a movie, you ask what movie they watched and they actually I went out for dinner last night. This is a major mistake, if someone changes a big part of their story you should be suspicious. It’s easy to get a name wrong but few people misremember an entire afternoon.
The Slippery Slope
People who lie once often lie again, because lying is a slippery slope. There more you do it the easier it gets and the more likely you are to do it again.
- Recycled Phrases
Liars have a hard time expanding on their stories, if you think someone is lying try asking the same question in three different ways. You may notice them using the same scripted phrases over and over, these phrases are designed to protect them but any good interrogator knows recycled phrases are a dead giveaway. If someone were telling the truth, they can explain one story from several different angles. They could mix up the phrasing without jumbling the facts, but liars rarely can, they stick to the same phrases because they worry about their story. If someone repeat the same language, then they may be trying to deceive you.