How to determine by gestures that a teenager is deceiving. Detecting lies using facial expressions

It has long been no secret that all people lie. They can cheat in small things or in more important things. Those who do not want to become their victims need to be prepared for such a turn of events and learn to recognize lies. To do this, you need to have extensive experience communicating with people and constantly train your own powers of observation. Learning to understand people is quite difficult, but still possible. Most often, lies are determined by the eyes, facial expressions and gestures.

Eyes are a mirror...

When a person lies, it is often his eyes that give him away. If you have the desire, you can learn to control gestures or facial expressions, or think through a story to the smallest detail, but it is unlikely that you will be able to control your eye movements. When lying, a person feels very insecure and uncomfortable, so he tries to look away. If the interlocutor does not look directly into the eyes, this can be considered as the first sign of deception.

But it's not that simple. Almost everyone knows how to detect a lie by looking at their eyes, so they use the “by contradiction” method. If a person looks directly with an unblinking gaze, perhaps he wants to justify himself. An overly honest look often indicates the untruthfulness of the interlocutor’s words. It seems that he wants to penetrate the thoughts of his opponent and understand whether he believes him. And if a liar is caught off guard, most likely he will try to switch his attention or go to another room.

It is almost impossible to control, so the person who is lying changes his gaze. The pupil becomes much smaller than always.

Blood to the face...

Detecting a lie by the eyes is not the only way to recognize a lie. When a person tells a lie, tiny wrinkles appear around his eyes. Sometimes you can even see them with the naked eye. If you have doubts about the sincerity of your opponent’s words, you should closely observe his skin around his eyes.

Four directions of the world

Thinking about the eyes, you can observe which direction the interlocutor is looking. If his gaze is directed to the right, then he is deceiving. When people look up and straight, it means that at that moment they are coming up with a picture or image for themselves. To imagine sounds or a phrase, a person will look to the right and straight ahead. When the script is ready, the deceiver will look to the right and down. But these rules only apply if the person is right-handed. A left-hander has the opposite eye position when lying.

If the gaze quickly moves from one object to another, then this is also a reason to think about how to determine a lie by the eyes.

Guilt

Knowing the basic secrets, you can easily determine whether a person is deceiving or not. Many people, when telling a lie, experience: At this time, their eyes drop down, and sometimes to the side. To determine a lie, it is necessary to compare the movements of the eyeballs with the words spoken by the opponent.

"Fixed" eyes

Psychologists are sure that a frozen gaze is a sign that a person is telling a lie. To check this, just ask your interlocutor to remember some detail. If he continues to look straight and does not blink, most likely you cannot trust him. In the case when the opponent answers the question posed without thinking or changing the position of his eyes, one can suspect him of insincerity. When the number of blinks increases, this indicates that the person feels uncomfortable and wants to withdraw from the outside world.

But determining lies by the eyes in this way is not fair in the case when the events occurred ten to fifteen minutes ago. Also, you should not get hung up on a fixed gaze when a person communicates information that is very important to him, for example, an address or telephone number.

Abrupt glance away

When communicating with a person, sometimes you can notice how he quickly averts his eyes to the side during a story, and then looks again at the interlocutor. There is a very high probability that his actions indicate that he is trying to hide something.

If the interlocutor looked straight and open throughout the conversation, and when a certain topic was touched on, he began to look away or avoid direct contact, then this is one of the signs of how to recognize a lie by the eyes. But sometimes insecure and complex people behave this way if the topic of conversation makes them feel awkward. In this case, it makes no sense to talk about deception based on this sign alone.

Frightened facial expression

A person who deceives is always afraid of being exposed. Therefore, during a conversation he may feel a little frightened. But only an experienced psychologist will be able to distinguish this from ordinary embarrassment in front of an unfamiliar person or an unusual situation.

Eyes are not the only indicator of a lie. When analyzing the behavior of your interlocutor, it is worth assessing the full picture: paying attention to gestures, posture and facial expressions. Any information about a person will be useful in order to correctly match the words and the “picture”. Therefore, it is not worth doing.

Facial expressions while lying

Knowing the position of the eyes when lying is important, but it is not enough. It is necessary to observe a person’s speech, movements and behavior. During a false story, changes will definitely be noticeable. It is necessary to evaluate facial expressions and gestures only in conjunction with speech and voice parameters.

Intonation and smile

When the other person is deceiving, his speech and intonation will change. The voice may tremble, and words are spoken more slowly or, conversely, faster. Some people experience hoarseness or high notes that slip through. If the interlocutor is shy, he may start to stutter.

A smile can also reveal insincerity. Many people smile a little when they tell a lie. The interlocutor should be wary if the smile is completely inappropriate. This facial expression allows you to slightly hide awkwardness and excitement. But this does not apply to cheerful people who always try to smile.

Facial muscle tension

If you look at your opponent very carefully, you can figure out whether he is cheating or not. It will be revealed by micro-tension of the facial muscles, which lasts for several seconds. No matter how “stony” the interlocutor speaks, instant tension is still inevitable.

The deceiver is revealed not only by the position of the eyes when lying, but also by uncontrolled skin and other parts of the face. The most common include: quivering lips, rapid blinking, or changes in skin color.

Gestures of lies

Well-known experts agreed that when a person cheats, he performs typical actions:

touches face with hands;
covers his mouth;
scratches the nose, rubs the eyes or touches the ear;
pulls the collar on his clothes.

But all these gestures can indicate a lie only if there are other signs of deception. Therefore, the most reliable thing is to determine lies by the eyes, facial expressions, movements and behavior. By learning to diagnose lies, you can avoid the fate of the victim and always feel confident.

As practice shows, the person who frequently communicates with other people is able to accurately recognize lies. He must also be able to soberly perceive the situation and events, be attentive and try to notice all the nuances and subtleties of their behavior. Rich communication experience and the ability to analyze will help you correctly perceive all information received and evaluate its reliability.

Many would like to know how to identify the lie of the interlocutor: during business meetings, so as not to sign an unfavorable contract; when communicating with your wife, husband or friends to find out if they are sincere; during a conversation with children, and in hundreds of other situations. And now you can learn this by carefully studying the material from the article.

Detecting lies is a science

Not long ago, lie detection became something of a science. People began to find a relationship between what a person says and how he behaves.

That is, knowing some of the mechanisms of a person’s behavior, you can determine whether he is telling the truth or everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie. How to do it?

Now we will examine this issue in detail, and you will learn how to recognize a lie by:

Voice
Facial expressions and gestures
At a glance

These are the main points. The next level of sorts is empathy. That is, recognizing a person’s emotions, experiencing his feelings with him. But we will omit this question here, since it is very difficult to study on your own.

How to recognize lies by voice and speech

High pitched voice

During a conversation, the person who wants to deceive you cannot fully control himself. His attention is scattered on many things so as not to give away his deception. That's why the tone of his voice changes from time to time: because of this inner turmoil.

When a person lies - and even more so ineptly - his emotions simply rage. It's like he's walking through a minefield. Therefore, you can determine by the voice what state the interlocutor is in: if he has high notes, most likely he is hiding something; if he speaks in a calm, low voice, he is most likely telling the truth.

Pauses in speech

As mentioned above, a liar's attention is very unfocused. And since he attaches special importance to words - a person uninitiated in the science of lies looks at what he says, and not how - he needs time to pick them up.

At this time, pauses are formed. These may not be 2, 3 or 5 seconds, but barely noticeable stops. Therefore, pay close attention to how the person speaks.

Inconsistency between what a person says and how he expresses it

This point could be attributed to a change in the tone of voice, but here another element is added - facial expressions. We'll talk about it further. Here's just an example to make it clear what we're talking about:

If a person, having received a gift or a compliment, begins to enthusiastically thank you, but at certain points on his face it is clear that he did not care, he is lying.

Few details in the story

A liar's story usually contains little detail. If you ask him to clarify something, he will have to strain very hard. And, most likely, there will be a pause after your question. Use this as an identifier. Jump from topic to topic, and then ask them to repeat the details of what you talked about a few minutes ago. But just do it naturally so as not to arouse suspicion.

Repeat question

In order to gain time, the person repeats the question that was asked to him. These few seconds are usually enough to come up with a worthy answer: the one that is most similar to the truth.

Repeating the same information

A liar will try in every possible way to plant his innocence in your head. And he will repeat this under different formulations.

Remember: the innocent have no excuses.

How to recognize a lie by facial expressions and gestures

Closed defensive poses

If the interlocutor often takes closed defensive poses, crosses his arms and legs, tucks his shoulders, has facial expressions of lying (this is discussed in detail below), he slouches, covers his stomach, prefers to have some object between you, uses certain unnatural body movements - He is most likely lying.

By creating extra distance, obstacles and protecting vital organs, his stress is reduced. And this is very important for a liar - because, as we remember, he has to work very hard for everything to go smoothly.

Touching the face and neck

Another factor that a person is lying is his touching the neck and face. These are the most common lying gestures. They usually look very unnatural. What do they mean?

When fingers are near the lips, this most likely indicates that the person’s body is telling him: “Stop telling lies! Stop it!” Therefore, he unintentionally begins to cover his own mouth with his hand.

When the interlocutor touches his nose, he tries to move his hands away from his mouth. So that it looks natural: “What? My nose itched.”

Touching the ear indicates that the person does not want to listen to his lies. This all happens on a subconscious level. That is, everything happens involuntarily; as if in the background.

Eye touching is an attempt to avoid contact with the interlocutor. People in a stressful situation are afraid that everything can be seen in their eyes. Therefore, they try in every possible way to hide their eyes.

Frequent shortness of breath and sweating

We remember that a liar is subject to severe stress. Therefore, his breathing and sweating become as if he had just exercised.

If a person tells the truth, he has nothing to worry about. Therefore, if you notice these signs, think about it.

Expression of boredom on display

Experienced liars are not so easy to catch. They never act too emotionally. One of the techniques they use is an open expression of boredom: an open posture, yawning, smiling, slow speech.

If a person does not usually behave this way, it means he has deliberately “reprogrammed” his body language.

Turning the head from side to side

A liar can turn his head to signal that he is retracting his words. These left-right turns are similar to how we indicate “no” (the opposite body movement is a nod to indicate “yes”), but a little weaker. Not so openly.

Fake smile

Also, the interlocutor can hide behind a fake smile to reduce the level of mistrust on your part. How is it different from the usual one? When a person smiles sincerely, small folds appear in the corners of his eyes. And when it’s insincere, only the mouth is used.

In order to more accurately track lies by facial expressions, try checking each point yourself, in front of the mirror. For example, smile at yourself without using the muscles around your eyes.

How to recognize a lie by the eyes

Avoiding eye contact

A liar will often try to avoid eye contact. Typically, most of the time - 60-80% - his gaze will supposedly evaluate the surrounding situation, raised up - thinking about something, or down - “looking at something interesting.”

Frequent blinking

If a person does not have problems with his eyes, then frequent blinking indicates his excitement. Does he have a reason for this? If not, then most likely what he is saying is a lie.

Fake surprise

When a person is sincerely surprised, his eyebrows rise. If a person just wants to pretend that he is glad to see you, then his intonation in his voice will only increase.

How to expose a liar

Ask him to tell his story in reverse chronological order.

Coming up with stories is one thing. But if you try to turn a non-existent story upside down, then most likely it will turn out to be a mess. Try it yourself! Only a person with a very fast thinking speed is capable of this.

Ask as many questions as possible about the details.

As we said above, liars are weak at coming up with details. Therefore, try to learn as much as possible about them: colors, objects, people, conversations - whatever.

Be silent and express open distrust

Try to put the liar into a state of extreme stress: openly tell him that you don’t believe him; be silent and look intently into his eyes. So he will begin to try to convince you otherwise. Thanks to this, many additional elements will be revealed by which he can be caught in a lie.

It is not always possible to recognize a lie 100%

Everything described here is not 100% signs of identifying liars. They just indicate that a person is either trying to hide something, or he is not confident in his words.

Remember 2 rules:

Not a single method, not a single detail provides accurate information: neither facial expressions, nor gestures, nor the use of a lie detector.
Don't accuse a person of lying based on guesswork. The information from the article is a kind of guide. It can only guide you towards the truth.

The human factor plays a huge role. That is why it is so difficult to prove anything by facial expressions and gestures, voice or eyes.

How to get as close as possible to the truth

In order to master the skill of detecting lies by gestures, facial expressions and eyes as accurately as possible, you need to learn to compare all factors into one picture, and not look at them separately.

That is, look at all lying gestures as one mechanism.

To keep track of everything, you need a lot of practice and a deeper study of the topic: read books - fortunately, there are now a huge number of them on the Internet; look through the materials of experts in this topic - you can also find them in the public domain. And you will succeed!

According to statistics, every person manages to lie at least 4 times a day, since the truth often contradicts generally accepted standards of decency, ethics and even morality. How to recognize a lie if not a single modern detector is able to give one hundred percent guarantee that what a person says is not a deception? Let's determine the external signs of untruth that will give away the interlocutor.

What kind of untruth can happen?

Often deception is harmless when a person tells a lie out of politeness or out of a desire to be liked (“You look great!”, “Very glad to meet you!”). Sometimes people have to withhold the whole truth or remain silent in response to uncomfortable questions out of reluctance to escalate the situation, and this is also considered insincerity.

However, psychologists say that even seemingly harmless lies can seriously harm relationships, especially when it comes to understatements between family members: husband and wife, parents and children. It is difficult to achieve mutual trust and maintain strong family ties in such circumstances, so it is important to know how to recognize the lies of a man, woman or child.

Observations by specialists in the field of psychology have shown certain results that relate to deception in the family:

despite their outward openness to their interlocutor, extroverts are more prone to lies than introverts;
children quickly learn to lie in authoritarian families, and they do it often and masterfully;
parents who behave gently towards their child notice lies immediately, since he rarely deceives and lies uncertainly;
the female sex is prone to deception when it comes to everyday things - they hide the price of purchased goods, do not tell about a broken cup or a burnt dish, etc.;
Men are characterized by understatement in matters of relationships, they hide their dissatisfaction with their partners, have mistresses and confidently lie about their fidelity.

How to learn to recognize a lie?

To prevent the development of complex family relationships built on deception, infidelity and understatement, it is important to learn to understand sincerity. Often the ability to expose a deceiver is a natural talent of a person who intuitively knows how to recognize a lie by facial expressions, gestures or intonation of the interlocutor. In this he is helped by life experience of communicating with liars, or natural observation.

This does not mean that anyone cannot spot deception without the appropriate experience or talent. Currently, psychology has established some verbal and nonverbal signs of information distortion that are typical for most people. Thanks to a well-developed methodology based on understanding such signals, each person will be able to develop the ability to recognize insincerity. Let's find out what can reveal a liar.

Lie to Me is one of the few TV series based on a proven scientific hypothesis. The prototype of its main character, Dr. Cal Lightman, was the largest expert in the field of emotional psychology, Paul Ekman. He discovered that in terms of facial expressions, people of all cultures express feelings in the same way, and he discovered micromovements - short episodes of facial activity that indicate emotions - even when a person is trying to hide them. T&P has compiled a guide to Paul Ekman's technologies that will help you learn to see lies.

For a long time, science did not pay any attention to facial expressions. It was first taken up by Charles Darwin, who, among his other works, published the book “On the Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” in 1872. The scientist said that facial expressions are universal not only for our species, but also for animals: for example, like dogs, people grin when they are angry. At the same time, Darwin argued that our gestures, unlike facial expressions, can be called conditional, and was sure that they depend on what culture a person belongs to.

For almost a century, Darwin's work remained virtually forgotten. If it was remembered in scientific circles, it was only to challenge it. Only in the 30s of the 20th century did the French neuroanatomist Duchenne de Boulon turn to her, who tried to refute the theory of the Nazi scientist who claimed that “representatives of lower races” could be recognized by gestures.

In the 60s, the hypotheses voiced in “On the Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals” and repeatedly mentioned by de Boulon were popularized by the American psychologist Paul Ekman. He conducted a series of studies to test this theory, and found out that Charles Darwin was right: gestures do vary across cultures, but facial expressions do not. Ekman's opponents argued that it was all to blame for Hollywood and television, which broadcast an average image of facial expressions, which is largely accepted as a standard in different countries. To challenge this assumption, in 1967 and 1968, the scientist studied the facial expressions of representatives of one of the tribes in Papua New Guinea. These people never had close contact with either Western or Eastern culture and were at a stage of development similar to the Stone Age. Ekman found that in this case, basic emotions were expressed in the same ways as elsewhere in the world. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS), a method for classifying human facial expressions originally developed by Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen in 1978 and based on a selection of photographs with corresponding emotions, has proven to be universal. This unique musical notation for the face even today makes it possible to determine what facial movements a particular emotional expression consists of.

From surprise to contempt: seven universal emotions

There are only seven emotions that have a universal form of expression:

Astonishment,
- fear,
- disgust,
- anger,
- joy,
- sadness,
- contempt.

All of them are encrypted in FACS and EmFACS (an updated and expanded version of the system), so that each emotion can be found and identified by characteristic features, assessing its intensity and degree of mixing with other feelings. For this, there are basic codes (for example, code 12: “Elevator of the corner of the lip”, zygomaticus major muscle), head movement codes, eye movement codes, visibility codes (for example, when the eyebrows are not visible, you need to put code 70) and general behavior codes. which allow you to record swallowing, shrugging, trembling, etc. “There are uncontrolled, unintentional facial expressions, as well as softened or feigned expressions in which the experienced emotion is weakened, or an emotion that is not currently being experienced is simulated,” writes Paul Ekman in his book “Know a Liar by Their Facial Expression.” Unintentional expressions always appear behind the “screen” created on the face. In this case, they can be identified by micromovements. Typically these expressions only appear for a split second, so it takes practice to spot them.

There are three areas of our face that can move independently:

Eyebrows and forehead;
- eyes, eyelids and bridge of the nose;
- lower part of the face: cheeks, mouth, most of the nose and chin.

For each of them there is its own movement pattern in each of the seven cases. For example, when surprised, the eyebrows rise, the eyes open wide, the jaw unclenches, and then the lips part. Fear looks different: the eyebrows are raised and slightly drawn towards the bridge of the nose; the upper eyelids are also raised, exposing the sclera, the lower eyelids are tense; the mouth is slightly open, and the lips are also slightly tense and pulled back.

Paul Ekman gives in his book a detailed map of micromovements for each universal emotion and offers photographs for independent practice. In order to learn from this book how to quickly determine what feeling is expressed on a human face, you need to find a partner who will show you these photographs - completely or covering part of the image with an L-shaped mask. The book also allows you to learn to determine the degree of expression of emotions and recognize the components of mixed facial expressions: bittersweet sadness, fearful surprise, and so on.

Deceptive Expressions: Controlling the Message

“It is easier to fake words than facial expressions,” writes Paul Ekman. - We were all taught to speak, we all have a fairly large vocabulary and knowledge of the rules of grammar. There are not only spelling dictionaries, but also encyclopedic dictionaries. You can write the text of your speech in advance. But try to do the same with your facial expression. There is no “dictionary of facial expressions” at your disposal. It's much easier to suppress what you say than what you show."

According to Paul Ekman, a person who lies in facial expressions of his feelings or in his words usually seeks to satisfy his current need: a pickpocket feigns surprise, an unfaithful husband hides a smile of joy at the sight of his mistress if his wife is nearby, and so on. "However, the word 'lie' doesn't always capture what's going on in these cases," Ekman explains. - It assumes that the only important message is the message of the true feeling that underlies the false message. But a false message can also be important if you know it is false. Instead of calling this process lying, you should better call it message control, because lying itself can also convey a useful message.”

In such cases, there are two messages on the person's face: one reflects the actual feeling, and the other reflects what he wants to convey. Paul Ekman first became closely interested in this problem when he encountered the behavior of patients suffering from severe depression. In conversations with doctors, they claimed (facially and verbally) that they were experiencing joy, but in reality they sought to end their hospitalization and commit suicide. In “Lie to Me,” the writers also raise this problem: according to the plot, the mother of Dr. Cal Lightman committed suicide after she managed to deceive psychiatrists in this way. Later, while watching videos of her conversations with doctors, the series' protagonist discovers a micro-expression of sadness on her face.

Control of facial messages can be different:

softening,
- modulation,
- falsification.

Softening usually occurs by adding facial or verbal comments to an already present expression. For example, if an adult is afraid of the dentist, he may wince slightly, adding an element of self-loathing to the expression of fear on his face. Through mitigation, people often communicate to others that they are able to manage their feelings and align their behavior with cultural norms or the current situation.

In the case of modulation, a person adjusts the intensity of the expression of emotion, rather than commenting on it. “There are three ways to modulate facial expression,” writes Paul Ekman. “You can change the number of areas of the face involved, how long the expression is maintained, or the amplitude of contraction of the facial muscles.” Typically, all three methods are used. But with falsification, the facial process becomes false: the face does not show the emotion that a person actually experiences (simulation), nothing is shown when in fact there is a feeling (neutralization), or one expression is hidden behind another (camouflage) .

Physiology of lies: place, time and microexpressions

To learn to recognize lies on faces, you need to pay attention to five aspects

Facial morphology (specific configuration of features);
- temporary characteristics of emotion (how quickly it arises and how long it lasts);
- place of expression of emotion on the face;
- microexpressions (they interrupt the main expression);
- social context (if fear is visible on an angry face, you need to think about whether there are objective reasons for this).

People who control their facial expressions pay most attention to the lower parts of their faces: the mouth, nose, chin and cheeks. After all, it is through the mouth that we carry out sound communication, including wordless communication: screaming, crying, laughter. But the eyelids and eyebrows more often “show” the true feeling - however, eyebrows are also used for facial falsification, which can affect the appearance of the upper eyelids. What and how exactly is “out of place” in the process of deception depends on what exactly is being broadcast and what is being hidden. For example, the expression of joy does not require us to use the forehead at all - so if it covers another emotion, the latter must be sought in this area.

Using Ekman's books, you can learn to recognize different fake facial expressions in different situations: see fearful eyebrows on a neutral face (which indicates genuine fear), detect a lack of tension in the lower eyelids on an angry face (which indicates that anger is fake), find information leakage about real anger under the guise of disgust, notice pauses between the verbal message about the emotion and the appearance of its false version on the face (1.5 seconds) and pay attention to other important details.

But the main skill that Ekman’s books and trainings allow you to develop is recognizing microexpressions. These displays of emotion usually last only a short time: half to a quarter of a second. You can learn to find them using the same photographs and an L-shaped mask - if the images quickly replace each other. The presence of microexpressions, however, does not mean that the person is not simultaneously masking, weakening, or neutralizing the emotions being experienced. These short episodes of facial activity are a symptom of deception or, in extreme cases, a sign that the person himself does not know what he is feeling, but their absence does not mean anything.

Today, Paul Ekman and his research team provide emotion recognition training to customs officers, police and border patrol officers, HR professionals and others who often have to look for deception or confirm facts. However, his developments are useful not only at the border: they can help journalists during interviews, teachers in the classroom, businessmen in negotiations and many other people. However, neither Dr. Lightman’s techniques from the series, nor Dr. Ekman’s techniques, which formed the basis of “Lie to Me,” should be used at home. After all, not every deception actually entails negative consequences, and close people should be given the right to privacy, since not everything they hide has to do with us.

It just so happens that man is a social being. And for normal existence, he, almost like air, needs communication. And not only superficial, non-binding, but also normal, friendly, with full-fledged emotions. Of course, in such conditions, falsehood and lies are unacceptable. Lies are sometimes very difficult to recognize, and for this purpose psychologists highlight a special area - signs of lies based on gestures and facial expressions. What it is and what benefits it has will be discussed further.

How does the facial expression of a lie appear?

It should be remembered that lying is unnatural for a person in a normal state. In order to utter words containing untrue statements, you need to make a certain effort on yourself. Professionals can easily identify these signs; amateurs will need to try a little.

Psychologists advise to look carefully at the interlocutor, and also listen to how he speaks. And track:

change in the tempo of speech, the appearance of pauses, a sudden change in timbre (lower or higher);
quickly moving gaze (“running”), a person looks to the side, and not directly into the eyes;
an inappropriate smile;
microspasm of facial muscles (if you’re not used to it, it’s almost impossible to notice).

Some experts, in addition to the main signs indicated, also identify additional ones. These are: a sudden change in the color of the skin of the face (pallor or redness), nervous tics (not manifested before), trembling of the lips and others. To draw up a complete psychological portrait, you should take into account some “tips” on how to recognize a lie by facial expressions. This is the liar’s subconscious desire to cover his mouth with his hand, touching his lips, eyes, rubbing the tip of his nose, pulling at the collar of his shirt or sweater.

Important. Sometimes the examples given by themselves don’t mean much, perhaps the person is simply stressed or unhealthy, but in combination, when there are enough of them, they allow one to accurately recognize a lie.

How to recognize facial expressions of a lie

What is important is not only the manifestations of human reactions, interpreted as an attempt to hide something, but also the circumstances under which they manifest themselves. The behavior of a liar is best seen on video: it is difficult to deceive the technique, and from the recorded material, any trained specialist can reconstruct the true picture of events. It happens that individual movements indicate the opponent’s uncertainty (for example, during an interview, when the employer decides whether the candidate will cope with the vacancy offered to him or not).

You can recognize the true motives using direct or repeated questions: in the end, the interlocutor will be forced to make a decision and choose one of two options: admit to a lie or continue to tell a lie.

Try to stir up your interlocutor, force him to open up, drop his mask. An honest and sincere person, when unbalanced, will repeat the same thing that he said before, and a liar, for sure, at least for a minute, will lose self-control and give himself away.
A simple technique called “advice for a friend” works quite effectively: the subject is told a legend about a friend who finds himself in a delicate situation, and then he is asked for advice on what exactly the friend should do. People who have nothing to hide will give a clear and precise answer (in fact, at such moments the interlocutor “tryes on” the problem for himself and tells how he would act). Liars will react exactly the opposite: from evasions and refusals (they say, I don’t even know what to advise you) to fantastic stories and whole carloads of false information. And, of course, they will completely reveal themselves with fine motor skills of their hands, body movements, and facial expressions.
A slightly fraudulent, but effective method is based on bluff and knowledge of human psychology: the interviewee is told that a lie detector test will be conducted (or an interview in the presence of a professional facial recognition specialist). And this is where the fun begins. Honest people react unambiguously and predictably; with a high probability, their nonverbal reactions will not tell anything special. Another thing is those who have something to hide. They will definitely begin to get nervous, rub their hands, loosen their tie, sudden changes in the tempo and intonation of speech, and similar manifestations of deceit are possible.

Examples

There are a great many ways to recognize a lie. Most often, experts recommend developing observation skills in order to catch the moment when exactly a person begins to tell a lie. Characteristic features of this are uncontrolled “glitches” between speech and speed: for example, the interlocutor talks about some personal experiences, while his gaze is directed to the side. The answers sound out of place (as if the person is somewhere far away and does not understand the meaning of what is being asked).

At a minimum, the fact that the interlocutor is not interested in the conversation will be indicated by shifting eyes, a slight wandering smile on the lips and a tense posture. If you ask a direct question regarding the purpose of the meeting, then by the nature of the answer you can judge the interest of the interlocutor.

An unintelligible remark that does not correspond to the situation clearly indicates: the conversation was not a success, most of it was ignored, thinking about their own things or preparing some suitable lie. Another indication of the unpleasant course of negotiations for the counterpart and his reluctance to participate in them is indicated by turning his head (or the entire body) to the side, as if in an attempt to isolate himself, to distance himself.

Considerable importance is attached to visual contact: when a person avoids looking into the eyes during a meeting, he is clearly hiding something. Or he is by nature an insincere, reserved person who does not make contact well. A special place is occupied by the tactic of building “protective barriers” - this is when, during a conversation, a barrier is built from improvised objects: chairs, stacks of books, vases or glasses of water are placed.

Attention. In a global sense, the reluctance to “make contact” is expressed in the creation of any barriers to visual contact - it doesn’t matter whether the conversation is taking place in the office or in a relaxed atmosphere (in a cafe).

Try to unobtrusively rearrange the napkin holder that is in your line of sight. If the interviewer puts the clutter back in its place, know that he is trying to hide something from you. A control indicator of hidden intentions and the desire to lie will also be any sudden changes in the manifestation of emotions, inhibition.

Sudden stops of speech, illogical pauses, and abrupt ending of a sentence in mid-phrase are always alarming. The fact is that in a normal situation the time gap between verbal communication and the emotionally confirming reaction is minimal. If a person is trying to deceive you, everything will be exactly the opposite: a complete inconsistency between nonverbal manifestations and voice, intonation, timbre.

Facial expressions, lies and new technologies

Lawyers, investigators, bank employees, customs officers and other representatives of specific professions who need it due to the nature of their activities learn how to identify lies by facial expressions and gestures. In rare cases, a person is naturally endowed with this ability, but there are very few such people - approximately 50 out of 20 thousand.

Experts call instantaneous reactions of the facial muscles microexpressions - they last only a few seconds, and are very difficult for an untrained person to track. An expert on such reactions, Paul Ekman, came up with a universal “formula” for lying: an upturned (wrinkled) nose, a compressed and raised upper lip. In the experiment he conducted, most of the test subjects performed this way.

Ekman, together with David Matsumoto, was involved in the development of computer recognition of liars by facial expressions (METT). Subsequently, both specialists continued their research separately.

Important. Facial reactions are subconscious and uncontrollable. They have no direct connection with a person’s thoughts and actions. Sometimes this manifestation is associated with some experienced event or shock.

Therefore, as an explanation, psychologists give a small example. Show your interlocutor a photo of your dog, which you love very much, and pay attention to his reaction. Expressed admiration out loud and the subsequent grimace of disgust do not necessarily mean that you are communicating with a hypocrite. It is likely that some not very pleasant memories for him are associated with dogs. Therefore, a complete conclusion about a person’s intentions can only be made by assessing all of his reactions to your words, and not on the basis of individual ones.