by ryan whalleyWe as humans pride ourselves on the belief that we are cunning, and that if needed to, we can tell a white lie and get away with it. Whether it be testifying that you didn’t eat that cookie or looking your teacher dead in the eye while proclaiming your math homework is complete when it’s actually at home, you could get away with it, right? The average person lies around 1.65 times per day (Saad, 2011). This behaviour may be fruitless labour, as there seem to be many indicators that we are not aware of when lying that might give the act away. In this article, I wish to highlight a number of these actions and the research behind them as well as the applications of having this knowledge, besides it being an entertaining party trick. One of the more commonly known ideas when pinpointing a liar is that people turn their head to the right when being dishonest (Pietrangelo, 2017). This is in attempt to stimulate the right hemisphere of the brain, typically associated with creativity, art, and intuition in the popular sphere. The idea is that the person is using their creative hemisphere to aid them in telling the lie. However, this research has many limitations as this behaviour simply may be one of many mannerisms a person has, and the concept has been debunked by more recent research (Wolchover, 2012). Another example is a person playing with their hair, which does not always mean that the person is uncomfortable. One study (Moore, 2015), based on a series of court hearings, shows more convincing evidence for a good indicator to look for when trying to identify a liar – the use of hand gestures. In this research, a programme was used to analyse the behaviours exhibited by those on trial. Around 40% of participants used both their hands when telling a lie (as defined by the outcome of the trial), which was higher than the number of times people used both hands when telling the truth. It makes you wonder, when previously telling lies, how often you threw your arms in the air, thinking you were exaggerating your point when you were blowing your own cover all along. There are many behaviours that we could look for in a liar, but a relevant question to ask is why? Why do we need this information aside from perhaps helping us to become better liars ourselves? Well, reading someone’s body language can help us in our daily interactions with others. Williams (2020) explains how he uses techniques such as observing the sweat on a person’s T-Zone (which can indicate that they are uncomfortable) to uncover the disingenuous nature of those around him, and how, through body language, he can understand more about different personalities and how to appropriately respond to them. Suffering from social anxiety, he naturally struggled to form relationships but the ability to interpret people's feelings, based on their behaviours, improved this. This applies to traits besides lying. For example, understanding others' behaviour helped Williams to notice if a person was more self-contained or outgoing, leading him to make calculated moves in terms of his own actions. Introverts can be drained from socialising and may lie towards the end of a social event to mask the fatigue. They may say that they are still enjoying themselves as opposed to being increasingly tired, perhaps to be polite or to hide their true personality. Note however, that once again this is not a solid science, extroverts can also become fatigued at a gathering. While the general public might use certain mannerisms to identify what others are thinking, there is not always a lot of research to show that these behaviours are proof of what we think they are. Regardless, whilst personality psychology may seem like a party trick at first sight, it is more eye-opening than we care to give it credit for. Understanding what others are thinking and feeling from their behaviour is great in helping to form relationships with others. Having the tools to notice when a person might be acting disingenuously, even if it is not full proof, can make us feel better in ourselves knowing the people around us are not putting on a façade. References
Moore, N, C. (2015, December 10). Lie-detecting software uses real court case data. University of Michigan News. https://news.umich.edu/lie-detecting-software-uses-real-court-case-data/ Pietrangelo, A. (2017, January 18). Left Brain vs. Right Brain: What Does This Mean for Me? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/left-brain-vs-right-brain Saad, G. (2011, November 30). How Often Do People Lie in Their Daily Lives? Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/homo-consumericus/201111/how-often-do-people-lie-in-their-daily-lives Williams, J. (2020). How to read people like a book: A Guide to Speed-Reading people, Understand Body Language and Emotions, Decode Intentions, and Connect Effortlessly. Amazon Digital Services LLC. Wolchover, N. (2012, July 11). Notion that Liars Glance to the Right Debunked. Livescience. https://www.livescience.com/34068-eye-movements-lying.html
2 Comments
4/18/2023 02:10:23
I appreciate your saying that one of the best ways to build relationships with people is to comprehend what they are thinking and feeling through their behavior. My acquaintance has recently developed an odd demeanor. I'll take her to a psychological clinic so they can assess her personality.
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