Spotting A Lie

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could always tell when someone is lying to us? According to Susan Carnicero, a person lies an average of 10 times a day. Susan is a former CIA officer who spent more than 20 years interrogating, interviewing and polygraphing suspects and if anyone does, she knows a thing or two on how to spot a liar.

Carnicero has developed behavioral screening programs that are being used by the U.S. government and co-written the book “Spy the Lie.” This will teach you how to detect deception. She is also co-founder of QVerity, a provider of behavioral analysis and screening services for private and public sectors.

Those little white lies are evident more often than big ones and aren’t usually malicious. When someone asks how you are, the answer is usually fine or ok, even when you aren’t. There are lies that are intended to spare someone’s feelings and others that are bald-faced lies.

It is nearly impossible to tell if someone is lying by looking at them. What you need to look at is how a person is reacting to things. First identify the stimulus or questions you’re asking, then focus on the behaviors directly associated with the person’s response. A major red flag is a deceptive behavior that occurs within the first 5 seconds after the question is asked.

If no deceptive behavior is shown within five seconds, they aren’t lying and usually showing 2 or more in total to signal a lie. Offering more information than what you ask for is an attempt to convince us they are good people so you will believe them, so ignore truthful behavior and focus on deceptive ones. Major clues are a failure to provide the information asked for, failure to deny and use of exclusionary qualifiers.

Aggression is often a sign of lying as well as convincing statements. Jumping down your throat when you ask a question is usually a problem. Attacking a 3rd person and demonstrating an inappropriate level of concern are telltale signs that someone is not telling the truth. Long responses about their good employment history and true worthiness are convincing statements that could signal a lie. Pay attention to small details as “wouldn’t” is often a lie. There’s a difference between them saying, “I wouldn’t do that” and “I didn’t do that.”

Nonverbal cues are a behavioral pause, verbal/nonverbal disconnect, anchor point movements, grooming gestures, and hand-to-face movements are important. Spotting a liar isn’t an exact science but using some of these guidelines might be a start. Remember that the “honesty is the best policy” approach isn’t good only for those around you, but for yourself as well. Telling the truth can also result in fewer symptoms, such as sore throats, headaches, nausea, and mental tension. Lying may cause stress that dampens the immune system.

Dr Fredda Branyon