10 Easy Ways To Know Someone Is Lying To You

Lying is one of the most common and pervasive social behaviors in the world. From little white lies to big lies such as cheating on one’s partner or financial fraud, lying is present in every culture around the world. It has also been adopted as a popular theme by Hollywood which likes to over-stress the use of polygraph tests and exaggerate the physical responses a liar exhibits, such as fidgeting, speaking too quickly, and sweating profusely.

In this list, we’re bringing you just the cold, hard, scientific facts. Be careful though – while the facts on this list are based on science, they cannot necessarily be used as definitive proof that someone is lying to you. (For instance, if someone clears their throat, maybe they just haven’t had a drink of water in a while.) The combination of multiple factors on this list and comparing what someone says to the objective truth is what will help you know if a person is lying. After all, lie detector machines aren’t even right 100% of the time. Some people are able to control their lying or minimize the cues given while lying.

So, even though they shouldn’t be used to condemn someone right off the bat, the facts on this list can help if you suspect someone is being untrustworthy. See if you can spot any liars or fibbers with these 10 Ways to Know Someone is Lying to You.

10

Clearing the throat

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Wikimedia

When we lie, our bodies prepare for a fight-or-flight (stay-and-fight or run) scenario. To do this, our bodies wick moisture away from our throats and send it to our skin; if you suspect someone is lying, they may clear their throat to alleviate the dryness.

9

Sweating

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Wikipedia

Similarly, all the extra moisture now present in the skin starts coming out as sweat, giving rise to the cartoon image of liars overheating and sweating profusely.

8

Sliding the jaw

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Wikipedia

To get moisture back in the throat, liars often make subconscious movements which give them away. To stimulate the salivary glands to produce saliva, they can open their mouths and move the jaw left and right. Take a look at someone you think is lying to see if they show this behavior.

7

Telling bare bones stories

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Pexels

If someone recounts a story with just the basic outline, they may be lying. Truth tellers often use small, salient details from the story, such as the time or setting of the event they’re describing. Liars leave out these little details because they are harder to keep track of. On the flip side, liars may go into great (fake) detail when you ask them a simple question. This is a form of overcompensating for the lie by flooding the listener with details. (It should be noted that when we experience a traumatic event, our memory does not function properly and sometimes omits either sensory or verbal details. Thus, when someone is interrogated, it cannot be immediately assumed they are lying if they have trouble remembering what happened.)

6

Thinking too hard

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Wikipedia

When we are under a greater cognitive load (such as doing calculus rather than simple addition), it takes us longer to think and process information. This greater load can lead to slower, choppy storytelling which seems to cause the person to think too hard.

5

Lack of eye contact

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Chill Mimi via Flickr

Most people who lie often feel at least a little bit of shame in doing so and will avoid eye contact. While the amount of eye contact a person is comfortable with differs from person-to-person and culture-to-culture, try noticing if they can’t look you in the eye.

4

Eyes pointed towards the door

Source: Psychology Today, Image: The Social Playground via YouTube

Body language is one of the biggest ways liars give themselves away. When their eyes aren’t looking at you, notice where they are looking at. If their eyes constantly point towards an exit such as a door, they are demonstrating the desire to remove themselves from the lying situation and the anxiety it causes.

3

The Adam's apple jump

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Wikipedia

c

2

Speaking slowly

Source: Psychology Today, Image: Wikimedia

Since a liar has to be careful their fabricated story doesn’t conflict itself, they’ll often speak slower than is natural to self-edit the story on the fly.

1

Minimal gestures

Source: Psychology Today, Image: fuzzcat via Flickr

Someone who is lying will often be more physically reserved, keeping hand and head gestures to a minimum. This relates to the subconscious idea of being smaller and less noticeable. If they are less noticeable, the idea is that the other person won’t suspect something is up. This has the opposite effect, generally – avoiding gestures often gives away a liar.