Everybody lies to some degree. Sometimes they are mild fibs, but other times
they can be harmful deceptions. The trick for the listener is to figure out when
someone is lying. This can be helpful when you are interviewing a potential new
employee or asking your boss for a raise…confronting a spouse over suspected
infidelity or a child over possible drug use…negotiating with a car dealer…or
consulting with a financial adviser.
Folk wisdom says that poor eye contact suggests dishonesty. Some
psychologists recommend watching for “microexpressions”—very brief changes in
facial expression. But studies suggest that these and many other commonly cited
indicators are either incorrect, unreliable or extremely difficult to spot.
The CIA has developed a more reliable system for spotting lies. It involves
monitoring people’s words and actions for more than two dozen different possible
signs of deception. When a cluster of two or more of these signs appears in a
single response, it may suggest a lie. You can ask follow-up questions on the
topic and see if they, too, elicit clusters of deceptive behaviors (see
“Questions That Uncover Lies” below).
The CIA may not have detected that its own director, David Petraeus, was
concealing an affair that led to his resignation, but in general, it is very
successful at ferreting out the truth.
Possible signs of deception…
VERBAL SIGNS
“Convincing” statements. These do not directly answer the
question posed but instead attempt to influence the questioner’s perception of
the person being questioned.
Example: An employee who is asked about an inflated expense report
responds, “I’m an honest person,” or “I would never jeopardize my job by doing
something like that.”
Unusually long pauses. It takes more time to think up a
plausible lie than to tell the truth. Consider a pause to be a sign of deception
if it is especially long for the nature of the question.
Relying on religion. When people use God to establish their
honesty, it sometimes means that they’re lying.
Examples: “I swear on a
stack of Bibles…” or “As God is my witness…”
Nondenial denials. This can suggest dishonesty when people
assert, “I would never do such a thing” (or words to that effect), yet they fail
to deny the
specific allegation…or when they bury denials deep in
long-winded responses…or they offer responses that sound like denials but upon
close consideration are not.
Example: A Senator was asked if he had used a profanity on the
Senate floor. Rather than say “No,” he said, “That’s not the kind of language I
ordinarily use.”
Repeating the question or commenting on it before answering.
Dishonest people sometimes do this to stall for time while they think through a
lie.
Example: “I’m glad you asked me that.”
Attack mode. This could involve questioning the questioner’s
competence or fairness.
Example: “Who are you to question me?”
Inconsistent statements. Liars who have trouble keeping
track of their lies might provide contradictory answers.
Unnecessarily detailed answers. The speaker might be trying
to hide a lie among a flood of truths…or narrow the scope of the response so
that it’s deceptive but not technically dishonest.
Example: A CEO who was asked about quarterly sales responded, “Our
domestic sales are up higher than we expected.” He specified domestic sales—a
level of detail not requested—to avoid saying that overall sales were way
down.
Sudden onset of politeness. Note when the level of
politeness increases in response to a particular question.
Example: An employee answers various questions without saying “sir”
and then responds, “No, sir,” to “Did you take money from the register?”
Inappropriate level of concern. When people downplay the
importance of serious misdeeds, it may be because they’re the ones who committed
them.
Complaining about the interviewing process.
Example: “How long is this going to take?”
Appearing to misunderstand straightforward questions. People
sometimes do this intentionally because they don’t want to answer the
question.
Referring back to earlier responses. Liars may stress that
they have already answered similar questions in a similar fashion.
Example: “As I told you yesterday…”
Adding qualifiers. Qualifiers include words intended to
stress the speaker’s credibility, such as “frankly,” or “truthfully”…and words
that suggest that the answer provided might not be 100% complete, such as
“basically” or “for the most part.”
NONVERBAL SIGNS
People’s faces and bodies can provide hints that they’re lying…
Hiding the mouth or eyes behind a hand and/or closing the eyes for an
extended period during the response. The speaker might be trying to
cover a lie or avoid seeing the response that a lie triggers.
Hand-to-face activity. Lying can trigger the brain’s
fight-or-flight response. Blood rushes out of the face when this occurs, leaving
it feeling itchy or cold.
Examples: Repeated rubbing or scratching of
the face…licking the lips…pulling the ears.
Nervous movements. Watch for movement in the hands, feet and
legs in reaction to a question.
Clearing the throat or swallowing. These can signal anxiety
about a lie—but only if they occur before the verbal response, not after.
Grooming. Liars sometimes dissipate anxiety by straightening
their clothing, hair or items in their vicinity.
Examples: Adjusting a
tie…smoothing a skirt…aligning pens on a desk.
INTERPRETING THE EVIDENCE
Watch and listen for the signs of deception listed above within the first
five seconds after asking a question. If one appears, continue monitoring for
additional signs during the remainder of the response. Remember, it takes a
cluster of two or more to suggest dishonesty—even honest people exhibit one or
another of these signs from time to time.
Note: A cluster consists of two or more different signs of
deception. If the same sign is repeated several times during a response, it does
not count as a cluster on its own. The exception is “convincing” statements,
which are such powerful deception indicators that two of them alone constitute a
cluster.
It’s difficult to listen and look for dozens of different signs of deception
at the same time. Practice by watching people respond to difficult questions on
TV investigative news programs.
QUESTIONS THAT UNCOVER LIES
To uncover lies, ask short, straightforward questions. Even honest people can
seem to send signs of deception when they struggle to answer complex questions.
Remain friendly and calm even if you think you’re being lied to. Becoming angry
will only raise the liar’s defenses, making it more difficult to spot additional
signs of deception.
Types of questions to ask…
Presumptive questions. These contain assumptions you cannot
yet prove.
Example: You want to know if your teenager was at a raucous party
the previous night. Rather than ask, “Were you there?” ask, “What happened at
the party last night?”—which presumes that the teen was there and catches
him/her off guard.
Bait questions. These present hypothetical situations and
often begin, “Is there any reason that…”
Example: Jewelry went missing from your bedroom while workmen were
working elsewhere in your home. Rather than ask each workman if he did it, ask
each, “Is there any reason someone might have seen you going into the master
bedroom this morning?” If you previously asked this person where he was at the
time of the theft, he might now change his story and supply a reason why he
could have been seen near your bedroom.
Questions preceded by prologue traps. Preface key questions
with mini-monologues that offer responders a way to minimize, rationalize or
pass the blame for misdeeds. These prologues sometimes convince them that it’s
safe to admit to “minor” transgressions.
Examples: Cash is missing from your purse. Before asking a family
member if he/she took it, say, “I realize the mistake might have been mine. I
never explained that you should ask first when you need to borrow money from
me.”
“What else?” When someone admits to a misdeed or lie, keep
asking, “What else?” until it seems no more details are being withheld.
Source: Michael Floyd, JD, a former officer with the Central
Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the US Army Military
Police. He is a founder of QVerity, a behavioral analysis and screening provider
for corporations, and Advanced Polygraph Services. Based in Napa, California, he
is coauthor, along with two other former CIA officers, of
Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect
Deception (St. Martin’s).
www.QVerity.com
