The Definitive Book of Body Language - Barbara Pease [49]
“It is always the best policy to speak the truth,
unless of course you are an exceptionally good liar.”
J. K. JEROME
So how can you tell when someone is lying, stalling, or simply thinking it over? Recognition of deceit, procrastination, boredom, and evaluation gestures can be some of the most important observation skills you can learn. In this chapter, you'll learn the body-language signals that give people away The first part of the chapter will deal with lying and deceit.
The Three Wise Monkeys
These monkeys symbolize those who hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil. Their simple hand-to-face gestures form the basis of the human deceit gestures. In simple terms, when we see, speak, and hear lies or deceit, we are likely to attempt to cover our mouth, eyes, or ears with our hands.
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil
People who hear bad news or witness a horrific accident will often cover their entire face with their hands to symbolically stop themselves from seeing or hearing the awful news. This was the gesture that was most observed worldwide when people heard about the planes flying into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
As we've already discussed, children often use hand-to-face gestures openly when they lie. If a child tells a lie, he will often cover his mouth with one or both hands in an attempt to stop the deceitful words from coming out. If he doesn't want to listen to a reprimanding parent, he simply covers his ears with his hands to block out the noise. When he sees something he doesn't want to look at, he covers his eyes with his hands or arms. As he becomes older, these hand-to-face gestures become quicker and less obvious, but they still occur when he is lying, covering up, or witnessing deceit.
These gestures are also associated with doubt, uncertainty, or exaggeration. Desmond Morris conducted research in which nurses were instructed to lie to their patients about their health in a role-play situation. The nurses who lied showed a greater frequency of hand-to-face gestures than those who told the truth to the patients. Men and women also both increase their number of gulps of saliva when lying, but this is usually noticeable only with men, as they have an enlarged Adam's apple.
“I did not have sexual relations with that woman,”
said the politician as he gulped and rubbed his nose.
As mentioned at the beginning of this book, we'll be analyzing gestures in isolation and discussing them individually, but this is not how they usually occur. They are part of a larger gesture cluster and should be studied in the same way as words in a sentence, that is, how each word is relevant to other words and the overall context in which they are used. When someone uses a hand-to-face gesture, it doesn't always mean that he or she is lying. It does indicate, however, that the person could be holding back information and further observation of other gesture clusters can confirm or deny your suspicions. It's important that you avoid interpreting a single hand-to-face gesture in isolation.
While there is no single guaranteed movement, facial expression, or twitch that confirms someone is telling a lie, there are several clusters you can learn to recognize that will dramatically increase your chances of spotting a lie.
How the Face Reveals the Truth
The face is used more than any other part of the body to cover up lies. We use smiles, nods, and winks in an attempt to cover up, but unfortunately for us, our body signals will tell the truth when there is a lack of congruence between our body gestures and facial signals. Our attitudes and emotions are continually revealed on our faces and