NONVERBAL SIGNS OF LYING (NVSL)

VERONICA PAIBO

March 26, 2010

OUTLINE

THESIS STATEMENT

INTRODUCTION / PURPOSE

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

THESIS STATEMENT

Nonverbal signs of lying exist; identifying

and explaining what they are, can help

detect these forms of deceptions.

INTRODUCTION

Communicating our feelings, ideas,

or a message can be achieved by:

Verbal or Nonverbal means

Whether Verbal or Nonverbal, signs used

to express the feelings or points of view...

INTRODUCTIONContinued:

o Verbal signs expressed with words/sounds;

o Nonverbal signs expressed without words/sound

Nonverbal signs of lying occurs when we

conceal our deceptions (lies) with expressions

or gestures without words or sounds ….

DISCUSSION

Focus of my paper to:

a) Identify the Nonverbal Signs of Lying (NVSL);

b) Explain how to detect these deceptive acts

DISCUSSION(Continued):

Several NVSL communicated through:

> Facial Expressions > Bodily Gestures

have been documented in books, research

papers, articles, internet, blogs, stories, etc…

DISCUSSION(Continued)

Several nonverbal signs of lying documented in educational

literature books, research articles internet, and manuals.

Significant examples identified relate to body gestures and

expressions, such as: Avoiding eye contact; and Fake Smile; Blinking; and Touching, Rubbing, Scratching face, nose, chin. Avoid Getting Close or Turning body away from listener, Crossing Arms Touching feet, legs, and arms, Fondling with objects, and Sighs or deep breathing, etc.

DISCUSSION

(Continued)

More than 20 Nonverbal signs of lying as outlined in Aetna-

InteliHealth.com article, written and discussed by Psychiatrist

and Neurologist, Dr. Alan Hirsch, M.D., of Rush-Presbyterian-

St. Luke’s medical Center in Chicago.

Dr. Hirsch’s discussions/research writings also in other articles

on the internet and blogs.

DISCUSSION(Continued)

My paper discusses four of the key examples:

Avoiding Eye Contact:

Liars often don’t look the listener direct in the eye;

Look to the sides, to the ground, or elsewhere,

They fear someone may discover the lies. (Article by Dr Alan Hirsch)

NOTE:

In some cultures, looking a person directly in the eyes is a sign of disrespect, and may not

be that a person is lying. - So, keep things in perspective.

DISCUSSION(Continued)

Fake Smile:

A smile is excellent way to know whether someone is lying;

A fake smile is very difficult to do if you know what to look for. In a

genuine smile, muscles beneath eyes create small wrinkles, and our

eyes show happiness and delight.

Forced or fake smiles do not alter these muscles, but usually distort one

side of the face, making the smile look irregular.

A liar may look down when fading the smile; they know it is unnatural.

DISCUSSION(Continued)

A forced smile tends to appear more rapidly and last longer than a

genuine smile before fading away.

Blinking:

Liars tend to blink far less frequently than people who tell the truth.

Liars are trying to control their facial expressions which may cause them

not to act naturally.

(See signs-of-liars; article in “eruptingmind.com”)

DISCUSSION(Continued)

Frequent touching, scratching, and rubbing the face, nose, or chin:

Occurs when a person conceals truth by frequently touching face,

scratching chin, and/or rubbing the nose. Dr Hirsch noted that in Clinton’s

Hearing;

Dr Hirsch noted the president frequently touched chin and nose and

scratched his forehead many times when he appeared to be lying.

However, he never did that when suspected to be telling the truth.

CONCLUSION

Nonverbal signs of lying are numerous;

Can be identified/studied so one can have an

effective means to deal with deceptive acts.

Nonverbal signs -- a form of communication --

seen through various facial expressions and

bodily gestures – face, body movements, etc.

CONCLUSION

However, one should be cautioned that these

signs can be impacted by culture, our upbringing,

or educational status. Because of this, we should

remember not to rely on just a single clue to make

a conclusion.

NONVERBAL SIGNS OF LYING

QUESTIONS?

CONCLUSION(Continued):

Whether we like it or not, lying is extremely common and

something which virtually everyone has done before or

may do at some point in their lives. People lie because,

they are may be having an affair, have something to hide,

they don’t want to know about something they did, or

they are cheating someone. Since we already know that

anyone can say anything about themselves, the key to

successfully detecting a lie comes from an examination

of both verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication.

Combining these aspects of communication will ensure

the most accurate lie detection.

CONCLUSION

(Continued):

Lying is simply hiding the truth, which means that if we want to detect a liar, we must know the signs to look out for. Knowing these signs can help us to effectively spot and deal with nonverbal deceptions. The nonverbal signs of deception are general cues, and may not be specific to all people and cultures . So, the key to successful lie deception comes from examining, not only the nonverbal aspects of communication alone, but also looking at the verbal aspects. While research work has given the baseline interpretation to the signs of lying, we must exercise caution when judging this along racial, cultural, and generational perspectives.