3 preconceived ideas that prevent you from recognizing liars
For many decades researchers have wanted to uncover the secrets of lying. It’s undeniable, these constant compromises with the truth are scary and it hurts to be duped. Especially because lies severely hinder our search for truth. But being busy calling out liars, we sometimes take aim at the wrong targets and start seeing fraud everywhere.
The team of Timothy Luke, a criminology and forensic psychology researcher at the University of Gothenburg, revealed many preconceived notions about lying. To do this, they analyzed work published over the past five years by 50 lie detection experts. Did.
1. Lies cannot be seen with the eyes
They say that eyes are the mirror of the soul. A saying that critics of lies apply daily. Someone who looks at us with a steady gaze, who does not blink or who has a squinting gaze… In semiotics, a discipline that studies non-verbal language signals, several techniques are used to detect liars. are based on gazing. But Timothy Luke’s team challenges this notion.
Although according to researchers, gaze is an interesting indicator to determine the interlocutor’s intention, it is not an infallible signal. “The only point on which most experts agree is that gaze aversion is not a clinical indicator of deception,” the authors say. Therefore, we should also pay attention to other behaviors to catch liars.
2. A liar doesn’t seem nervous
On the surface, liars are often uncomfortable distorting the truth. But this is not a general truth. For 70% of experts interviewed as part of a Swedish study, they do not necessarily adopt behavior that reflects panic. A surprising finding when we know that nervousness and gaze aversion are among the major behaviors displayed by liars.
“There are a variety of psychological processes that may underlie this. We are not talking about the same thing. Even superficial things like the duration and type of communication are important, argues forensic psychology researcher Timothy Luke.
3. There is no universal body language of a liar
According to common belief, a liar scratches their nose, crosses their arms, or changes posture frequently. Of course, body language is important. But if gestures can be deceiving, they are not undeniable cues for spotting liars, the study authors revealed. In fact, it all depends on the character traits of the person who is talking to us. “These beliefs also rest on fragile empirical foundations. The researchers found that the relationships between deception and arousal (body movements), the time it took subjects to respond to questions (response latency), and the coherence, meaning, or flow of their accounts (fluency) were not clearly established, We can read in the press release issued with the study. Some experts say liars do these things more often, others less, and still others say it doesn’t matter.”
On this topic, Professor Eldert Vrij, an expert in the psychology of deception at the University of Portsmouth, explains that the most common misconception about deception is that “non-verbal lie detection works”. But what should we do if all the cues we consider universal ultimately fail to definitively identify liars? For Swedish researchers, the most important thing to pay attention to is the liar’s speech. Ultimately, it’s the words that matter.
Mythology, Special Cases
If each liar is unique, then mythology has common traits that can be generalized. A behavioral disorder theorized in 1905 by psychoanalyst Ernest Dupré, mythomania is characterized by specific symptoms. The first, although obvious, is the systematic use of lies. Unlike others, mythology cannot help but distort the truth. Another peculiarity: they do not know the difference between their fabrications and reality. This is why it is not necessary to confront them because they sincerely believe what they are saying.
Contrary to legend, a manipulator lies to get something from his interlocutor. Fortunately, therapeutic follow-up may allow the mythologist to be freed from his disorder. But they still need to be aware of their problems before they start the process of going for counselling.