How do you know someone is lying to you?

Question

Is there a certain type of body language that you can look for?

Answer 1

When someone looks up and to the left, it means they're searching for a word or phrase. When someone looks down and to the right, it means they're hiding something or lying.

Body language: fidgeting; turning their back on you; nervous gestures like playing with hair, wiping imaginary things off clothes or surfaces, picking at nails, etc.; crossing arms is a defensive gesture that doesn't necessarily mean lying but may be a sign

Attitude: If a normally calm person gets overly angry or upset at being confronted with something, that can be a sign of trying to divert attention away from the truth. If a person who is normally boisterous and/or is easily set-off suddenly turns quiet, sweet and compliant, this can also be a diversionary tactic. They want you to be wooed into thinking they're telling the truth. Basically, any behavior or attitude that is opposite the norm for that person can be a huge clue to whether or not they're telling the truth.

I just found the link below. A very interesting article regarding "the art of lying." It answers your question perfectly. (Link 1)

From Link 2:

"Reducing the Odds of Being Deceived

"...outlined below you will find the various verbal and non-verbal cues categorized either as strategic or non-strategic, equipping you with a handy arsenal that should assist in ferreting out the deceivers from the truth-tellers...

"Non-Strategic Cues
Individuals engaged in deception can be expected to display the following involuntary leakage cues resulting from their agitation, emotions and cognitive effort:

1. Increased pupil dilation – deceivers’ pupils tend to widen as they would in dim lighting
2. Blinking – deceivers tend to blink more frequently when compared to individuals telling the truth
3. Eye shifting – deceivers will tend to look away, up, down, or to the side, rather than at the person they are speaking to
4. Self-adaptors – deceivers tend to use their hands to fondle or manipulate objects or parts of their body
5. Elevated speaking pitch – deceivers tend to speak at a higher pitch as compared to someone telling the truth
6. Speech errors – deceivers tend to use nonfluencies such as “uh,” “ah,” “um,” or “mm.”
7. Speech pauses – deceivers tend to allow greater periods of silence in between utterances while engaged in a conversation
8. Negative statements – deceivers tend to use words like “no,” “not,” “can’t,” and “won’t”
9. Leg gesturing and swiveling in chairs – deceivers tend to have more leg twitches, tapping feet, and will either swivel or rock when sitting
10. Less hand and head gesturing – deceivers “speak” less with their hands and tend to keep their head still

"Strategic Cues
Deceivers can be expected to display the following behavioral, image and/or information management cues intended on improving their chances of deception success:

1. Intentional communication of vagueness
2. Withdrawal from the conversation
3. Attempts to maintain a positive image to avoid detection
4. Speaking in a less immediate or more distancing manner
5. Use of irrelevant information in their messages by making statements that are unrelated to the theme of the message
6. Use more generalities and “allness” terms (e.g. “all,” “none,” “nobody,” “everyone,” “always,” “never”)
7. Speaking for shorter lengths of time, allowing the deceiver to disclose less information
8. Frequent use of modifiers (e.g., “some of the time” and “usually”)
9. More group references and fewer self-references (e.g. “we” and “us” vs. “me” and “I”)
10. Use longer response latencies allowing deceiver additional time to prepare successful deceptive answers."

Answer 2

There are a number of signs you want to look for when a person is lying :

1) Skin color changes - either flushes or gets pale
2) Eyes dart around, won't look you directly in the eye when they were doing it comfortably before,
3) pupils dilate
4) Increased blinking
5) Touches themself
6) Lowers their head
7) Turns their body away from you when their shoulders were square to yours before
8) Their mouth gets dry
9) Breathing gets shallow or they hold their breath and rapid indicating an increased heartbeat
10) They start playing with something they are holding like a drink or a purse
11) They crinkles up their nose or touches their face
12) They tighten their lips or clenches their jaw

Of course, just one of these signals can't be used as an indication of anything. You need at least 3 or more of them together or rapidly following one another.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I try to make sure that they are looking directly at me when they are making a statement. Usually, if someone is lying, they will avoid direct eye contact with you.

Another thing to look out for is where they keep their hands. Keeping their hands in their pockets, their arms folded across their chest or swaying back and forth are all signs that a person is being untruthful.

Answer 4

Not looking you in the eye when they are talking - Also - sometimes when a person is lying they go overboard talking too much trying to make you believe what they are saying.

Answer 5

A lot of blinking. Failure to make eye contact. Lack of fluidity in their conversation. Sweaty. Nervous.

Answer 6

Sometimes, there's an extra emphasis to convince you of something that means he's only trying to convince himself that you'll buy it.