How people try (but fail) to spot a lie

What a liar looks like Before we start thinking about ways of detecting lies, we need to know a little about how the people around us actually lie. Researchers have given people diaries and asked them to record the lies and truths that they tell over a 24-hour period. What has been found across studies is that people tell the truth far more often than they lie. It makes sense – the general purpose of language is to communicate what is in our head to another person, and a truthful account of what we are thinking does that best. Sometimes we fudge the details or outright lie, but that’s the exception, not the rule. We need to keep that in mind. The differences between liars and truth-tellers are incredibly small and rarely seen. How about the behavior of a liar? When people think about liars, they tend to begin listing behaviors that might give a liar away – visible behaviors. But Pinocchio’s nose does not exist. We are simply too good at lying. Yes, even you. If (or when) you lie, you don’t hide your mouth or avoid looking that person in the eye. Tales are a little less convincing, perhaps, but out of 100 lies you can expect around three to seven of them to be less convincing than a truth. The differences between liars and truth-tellers are incredibly small and rarely seen. In fact, in our research we have found that people are quite skilled liars. In one study, participants believed they were taking part in research on how people’s bodies sway while solving math p...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Uncategorized SpotOn SpotOn18 Source Type: blogs