BY CHIDIRIM NDECHE
There are many great books on understanding human behaviour that everyone should read. Understanding human behaviour is important in a few ways, like knowing if someone is flirting with you, if you are boring them in a conversation, or if they’re lying to you. Knowing these clues when communicating with people will give you an advantage over everyone else.
Lying is much more common than you think. The more people talk, the more likely it is that they tell untruths. Those small “omissions” or untruths are lies. Some people find that lying makes life easier sometimes, and tend to do it frequently. Since deception is everywhere, it is important to detect a harmful lie before it gets out of control.
“I am never going to drink alcohol again.”
“I am five minutes away.”
When someone is lying, here are five things they tend to do:
1. Give too much detail.
Liars often talk too much in order to seem more convincing. They give too much details in order to convince you (even though you did not ask) that what they are saying is true. If a story does not sound right to you, rephrase your question to make them tell it in another way. If they don’t succeed, they are probably lying.
2. Stare or not make eye contact.
Whenever we feel guilty of something towards someone, we cannot act the same way. Some people try to train themselves to make it look like they are telling the truth, but it is extremely difficult to act the same way when you are lying. When lying, people tend to avoid eye contact or stare at you to make it look like they aren’t lying.
3. Change positions.
A liar will try to get more comfortable, by crossing their arms or adjusting their sitting position for instance, when hiding the truth. This behavior is why CIA (Central Intelligence Agency in the US) agents put suspects being interrogated in swivel chairs, to make their movements more obvious.
4. Fake a smile.
Fake smiles are easy to detect as they only make use of the lower half of the face, instead of moving all the facial muscles. This is why it can be hard to hide bad emotions under smiles. If someone gives you a fake smile, they are probably lying.
5. Touch body parts.
When people are under stress, blood draws away from their noses, ears and hands, making them colder. Lying is relatively stressful, and people tend to be more likely to scratch or touch these body parts when stress.
It is important to note that people are different. You can watch their behaviour until it forms a pattern, and that way you will know when they are being straightforward or lying. If a person shows one or two of the above signs, you have reason to suspect that they are lying. However, you should treat them with respect and not accuse them directly of lying.