Signs Of Lying

How To Know The Signs Of Lying

 

In every walk of life, business or personal, it is important to know how to tell the most prominent signs of lying so as to protect ourselves by the deceitfulness of others.  Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but it seems to be the nature of humans to always believe the best in others by believing they are telling us the truth.  Even in the most mundane of statements, such as “Nice shoes” or “You look nice today”, we seek the kernel of truth; maybe because we want to believe that it is true.  However, there are many situations when being able to detect a lie will save us a world of hurt.

 

What Causes People To Lie?

 

For some reason, it is human nature to lie.  The first lie was in the earliest days of the world, Satan lied to Eve when telling her that surely she would not die by disobeying God although she had been told the very opposite.  Children begin the practice at an early age, usually shortly after they learn the consequences of telling the truth.  As humans, we have devised a way to lessen the impact of a “lie” by calling it a “white lie”.  This means that yes, I lied but I had a good reason for doing so.  Sometimes this can actually be the result of avoiding hurting another person’s feelings, but it can lead to more and more lying.  As lies become more and more successful, they also become more and more frequent.

 

The Link Between Trust And Truth

 

Trusting another individual is not something that comes easily to us.  We believe in and trust another person when they tell us something and then prove it to be true.  When someone lies, they have effectively broken that bond of trust.  When someone we have trusted lies to us one time, we tend to distrust that individual later in the same situation.  However, it is always important to remember that we all lie, and if someone ‘fesses up to a lie because they feel badly about it, grave thought should be given to forgiveness.  After all, it is always best to hear the truth from the person who did the lying and the sooner, the better.

 

The Signs Of Lying

 

Because everyone lies, we should all know how to tell when someone lies to us.  However, it doesn’t seem to always be that obvious; maybe because we refuse to see the telltale signs that are always there no matter how experienced someone is at deception.  The signs might vary from individual to individual, but experts say that there are a few ways to know a liar when you see one.

 

1)     Eye contact.  The eyes are the window to the soul, as the saying goes.  It is normal for one person to look another in the eye through most of a conversation.  A person who is telling you a fact but avoiding making eye contact with you may very well be avoiding that contact on purpose.  Excessive blinking is often thought to be one of the classic signs of lying, as is looking to the speaker’s right (your left) when answering a question.  However, people who are left-handed may have the reverse patterns.

 

2)     Speech patterns.  A normally well spoken individual will often include a variety of “umms” and “uhhs” while uttering a lie.  Also, a change in the pitch of a person’s voice may vary when an untruth is being told; more high pitched than normal or faster speaking.  A few other manners of speech that may be suspect are repeating your question within their answer, answering your question with another question and providing too much information in their answer.

 

3)     Body language.  Certain body language tends to be universal, although not definitive with all individuals.  Nervousness, for example, is one feature that police will often look for when interrogating an individual.  Sweating and fidgeting are signs of being nervous, and is often interpreted as one of the signs of lying.  Turning your body away from the person you are speaking with is another way of showing an untruthful nature, as is the act of covering your mouth or face with your hands.

 

4)     Consistency.  Those who have truth on their side have only one thing to say:  the truth.  Liars, on the other hand, do not have a steadfast story to tell but rather will continue to embellish and add to their story to make it more plausible as they go along; characteristic with signs of lying.  There are generally many inconsistencies with the story, especially when the liar is caught unawares and has not had the opportunity to fine tune their story.  They will often change their story as they think of better ways to explain their actions.

 

It is important to remember that, as humans, we all tend to lie and therefore should not be constantly on the lookout for signs of lying with others.  Sometimes these signs that are considered to be classic among liars are simply signs of nervousness or discomfort in truthful people who feel they are being judged.  Perhaps our natural tendency to believe the best in others is not always such a bad thing.