Gestures when a person is telling the truth. Interesting facts about how we live. Speech, voice, intonation - indicators of truthfulness

“Body language doesn't lie. Even if the body is already in the grave,
Dr. Lightman, "Theory of Lies"

In nature, no two people are the same. We are all different. We see, hear and think differently. And we also have different times. And therefore, there is no standard set of lie gestures indicating that we are telling a lie. But if he were, we would have found a way to deceive him. Deception is noticeable when it causes emotions (excitement, fear or shame). These emotions are conveyed by the language of gestures and facial expressions. But confirmation of lies must be sought in the totality of facial expressions, gestures and speech.

The truth is somewhere to the left

Lying requires self-control and tension. Tension can be overt or covert, but it's easy to see if you look closely at the left side of the body. It is controlled worse than the right one. This is because the left and right sides of the body are controlled by different hemispheres of our brain.

The left hemisphere is responsible for speech and mental activity, the right - for emotions and imagination. Since the control connections cross, the work of the left hemisphere is reflected on the right side of the body, and the right - on the left.

What we want to show to others is reflected on the right side of our body, and what we actually feel is reflected on the left.

For example, if a person is right-handed and gesticulates a lot with his left hand, this may mean that he is lying, especially if the right hand is less involved. Any inconsistency of body parts indicates insincerity.

“The brain is so busy making up lies that the body is out of sync” Dr. Lightman, "Theory of Lies"

The face, like the body, conveys two messages at once - what we want to show, and what we would like to hide. Disharmony in facial expressions indicates a contradiction. Symmetry always speaks of purity of intentions. For example, if a person smiles, and the left corner of his mouth is raised less than the right, then, obviously, what he hears does not please him - he feigns joy. It is also interesting that positive emotions on the face are reflected evenly, while negative ones are more noticeable on the left side.

Deception is annoying

A change in complexion (pallor, redness, spots) and twitching of its small muscles (eyelid, eyebrow) indicate stress experienced by a person and help to calculate deception. Tension, manifested in frequent blinking, squinting, or rubbing of the eyelids, is an unconscious desire to close one's eyes to what is happening. With rubbing gestures, our brain tries to block out a lie, a doubt, or an unpleasant sensation.

How comfortable or uncomfortable the interlocutor can be judged by his pupils: their narrowing indicates discontent, their expansion indicates pleasure. And by the movements of the eyes it is easy to understand whether he is going to tell the truth or lie.

If a person looks away, this does not mean that he is insincere. Often the one who stares into the eyes, trying only to seem open, is not completely honest.

Lies at the tip of the nose

Unexpectedly, but a deceiver can give out his own nose. Speaking a lie, he unconsciously begins to move the tip of his nose and take it to the side. And people who doubt the honesty of the interlocutor may involuntarily flare their nostrils, as if saying: “I smell: something is unclean here”.

The nose is generally extremely sensitive to deception: it itches and even enlarges ( "Pinocchio effect"). Scientists have found that deliberate lying increases blood pressure and stimulates the body to produce catecholamine, which affects the nasal mucosa. Increased blood pressure affects the nerve endings of the nose, and it begins to itch. Gestures that are somehow associated with “rubbing”, such as when someone rubs the eye, touches the nose and scratches the neck, indicate insincerity.

And the pens - here they are

When the interlocutor puts his hands in his pockets and closes his palms, these are gestures of lies or insincerity: he is hiding something or not saying anything. Remember children: they hide their hands in their pockets or behind their backs if they have done something.

Hidden palms can be compared to a closed mouth. Experienced salespeople always look at the palms of the customer when they talk about abandoning a purchase. True objections are expressed with open palms.

And with a hand covering his mouth, a person restrains himself, so as not to say something superfluous. Afraid to talk, he unconsciously tightens his lips or bites them. Watch the facial expressions of your interlocutor: a pursed lower lip indicates a contradiction: the person is not sure what he is saying.

“People freely lie with their mouths, but the face they make at the same time still tells the truth,” Dr. Lightman, "Theory of Lies"

The way he sits can also tell about the interlocutor. If he chooses an unnatural position and cannot sit down in any way, this indicates that he is uncomfortable with the situation or the topic raised. Liars often bend over, cross their legs and arms, and seek support from outside by leaning on some object (table, chair, briefcase). Truthful people rarely change body position and stand straight when answering questions.

There is no honesty in "to be honest"

Our speech is no less eloquent than the language of gestures and facial expressions. If you get an evasive answer to a direct question, accompanied by the expression “to be honest”, then listen to the speech of your interlocutor. It is worth doubting his sincerity when repeating phrases like:

• You just have to trust me...
• Trust me, I'm telling the truth...
• You know me, I can't deceive...
• I am completely honest with you...

“You said once - I believed, you repeated, and I doubted, you said a third time, and I realized that you were lying,” said the Eastern sages.

“There are more pauses in a false story than in a true one,” said Professor Robin Lickley. Too detailed a story is also hardly true - extra details only create plausibility.

A change in the rhythm and timbre of the voice can also betray deception. “Some people are always slow with the next sentence. If they start chattering, this is a sign of a lie, ”says Paul Ekman.

When we speak the truth, we reinforce what was said with gestures, and gestures correspond to the pace of speech. Gestures that do not fall into the rhythm of speech indicate a contradiction between what we think and say, i.e. to a lie.

If you think that the interlocutor is lying:

• Adapt to him: copy his posture and gestures. By mirroring, you will establish trust, and it will be harder for the deceiver to lie.
• Do not bring him to clean water and do not blame. Pretend you didn't hear and ask again. Give the other person a chance to tell the truth.
• Ask more direct questions. Actively use facial expressions and gestures, causing him to respond.

Jeffrey Hancock, a communications professor at Cornell University, researched 30 college students for a week and found that the phone had become the most common weapon of deception. People lie on the phone 37% of the time. Then come personal conversations (27%), online messengers (21%) and emails (14%). We feel more responsible for what we write than for what we say.

Outgoing people lie more often than introverted people and feel more comfortable when they lie and insist on their lies longer. Psychologist Bella DePaulo came to the following conclusions:

Men and women lie equally often, but women usually lie in order to make the interlocutor feel more comfortable, and men - to present themselves in a more favorable light.

Men and women behave differently when they lie. Telling a lie makes women feel less comfortable than men.

Scientists have found that a person begins to lie after his thinking reaches a certain level of development, approximately this happens at the age of 3-4 years.

Human nature is designed in such a way that each of us must communicate with others. With the help of this, we receive positive or negative emotions, exchange information, get to know each other, share our ideas, etc. But, communicating with each other, we do not know how to determine whether the interlocutor is telling the truth or lying. Therefore, we will devote this article to how to recognize a lie.

Training

Almost everyone dreams of learning to understand lies, but this, as you know, is almost impossible, since a person has not yet learned to distinguish between reality and fiction. However, in order to recognize something is wrong, no special training is needed, it is enough to pay attention to the gestures and behavior of the interlocutor at the moment of communication.

Care should be taken here, because even the most famous detectives could be mistaken, taking this or that gesture as a sign of a lie. So how do you learn to recognize lies?

Usually a lie brings inconvenience to the one who invents it, so the feeling of nervousness, fear, discomfort, fear of exposure does not leave them. It's about minor lies. But if they are deceived about serious things that can affect their future life, then only a person with a stable psyche can withstand such tests. But even in such rare cases, one can understand that this is a pure deception, while finding some points that clearly indicate that a person is telling a lie.

Eyes

It is they who will help to understand when a person is lying, because only the body can be controlled by us, and the eyes will never hide lies. Thanks to them, you can understand almost everything, from human feelings to lies. So how to recognize a lie in the eyes?

Signs of a lie:

1. Constricted or dilated pupils. Since this process occurs quite quickly, you should carefully observe the gaze of the interlocutor.

2. Expansion of the eyes. This happens within three seconds and resembles the surprise of a person who does not understand how you could reveal his deceit.

3. Eyes are constantly lowered down, because the liar becomes ashamed. This is very good, because he has not yet lost his conscience.

4. Eyes go up and to the side. At this point, the liar comes up with a fairy tale that he is going to tell you.

5. Moving eyes. Most often this is due to the fact that the liar is taken by surprise, and he automatically begins to look for an excuse. In some cases, a person begins to sweat, as a lot of energy is spent in the process of deception.

6. If you look your interlocutor in the eyes during the whole conversation, then the liar will try not to meet your eyes.

7. But there are times when a liar knows about these methods, so throughout the entire time of communication he tries not to blink and look into your eyes. Here it will be much more difficult to determine whether a person is lying or not.

How to recognize lies in speech?

This method is one of the most effective in order to understand whether the interlocutor is telling the truth or not saying anything. Next, we will consider in detail what you need to pay attention to.

Optional Facts

In order to hide his lie, a person always tries to put unnecessary events into his story to make his story convincing. For example, if you try to ask a liar about a specific action, he starts talking about all sorts of little things that are not related to a specific conversation (stories about guests, about the weather, about clothes), and your question is answered as if in passing.

"Guess for yourself"

If a person does not answer specifically to the questions posed, this means that he is dodging the answer because of distrust of himself or because he wants to lie. For example, to the question: “Were you in a cafe yesterday?” - he replies: “How could I be there if I had no time?”

How to recognize lies by speech yet? The second option is to evade the answer. For example, if a person is asked: “Can you fix my car?”, he will answer: “Well, everyone says that I am an excellent master in these matters.” In this case, we can say that he is not sure that he will fix the car, and does not want to admit it.

The third option is the repetition by the interlocutor of the question you asked or the use in the answer of the word that was included in it. This may indicate the insincerity of a person. Here he simply cannot think of anything, so he tries to repeat the question so that he has time to compose an answer to it.

The fourth option is the answer in the form of an anecdote or a joke. If you asked something and then heard a witty statement from the interlocutor, after which you smiled and immediately forgot what the conversation was about, then this most often indicates that the person is doing it deliberately in order not to give a truthful answer to the question you posed.

Conversation speed. If the interlocutor began to talk faster than usual, and even stutter, this indicates a lie. Also, a person may cough and change the tone with the voice.

If during the conversation the interlocutor starts his story from the beginning or supplements some points, explaining that he forgot to mention this fact, this indicates that the person is telling quite truthfully, because it is very difficult to remember a fictional story in great detail and then return to the beginning of the story.

Emotions

With their help, you can also recognize whether a person is lying or telling the truth. If the interlocutor expresses belated or premature emotions, this indicates his insincerity. For example, if a person demonstrates a long surprise, then this is one hundred percent lie.

Another sign of untruth, which can be determined through human emotions, is their excessive expression. If the interlocutor begins to shout sharply or, conversely, to be polite, this indicates that he is trying to hide his real feelings.

Recognition of lies by facial expressions and gestures

1. Pay attention to the fact that the interlocutor during the conversation nervously touches his eyebrows, nose and lips. So he tries to cover his mouth.
2. Face and hands. This is perhaps the most important thing to pay attention to if you want to recognize a lie. Honesty should be doubted when a person constantly pulls at the earlobe. This speaks of his insincerity towards you.
3. If you don’t know how to recognize a girl’s lies by facial expressions, pay attention to her manipulations with her hair. If she twists her curls or pulls them, this indicates that the person is tense, therefore, there can be no question of the veracity of the story.
4. Biting lips or nails demonstrates the unwillingness of the interlocutor to tell you the truth.
5. Liars also like to constantly adjust their clothes, tie up their shoelaces, touch their collar or cuffs as if something is constantly bothering them.
6. If the interlocutor constantly touches foreign objects, this means that he is lying. Also in such cases, liars hold some thing in their hand, inspect it several times or open and close it.
7. Another indicator that will help solve the question of how to recognize a lie by facial expressions is an unnatural forced smile. This testifies to the untruth that the interlocutor tells you.
8. If the arms and legs are crossed or intertwined, this indicates that the person does not want to open up to you, let alone tell the truth.
9. There are cases when a liar nods his head with a negative answer, and shakes it with a positive one. The first emotion always means a real attitude, therefore, if the facial expressions on the face after your phrases do not correspond to the future answer, then be sure that you are being lied to.
10. If the interlocutor hid from you, for example, behind a chest of drawers or a vase of flowers, this indicates a person’s unwillingness to tell you the truth or reveal himself to you.
11. Trembling knees, snapping fingers, wringing hands, twisting wrists are direct evidence that your interlocutor is a liar.

Detecting lies by facial expressions, gestures is not so easy. But if you train yourself to pay attention to all sorts of little things in the behavior of the interlocutor, this will teach you to distinguish between truth and fiction.

Family matters

It often happens that a woman finds her husband, smelling of sweet perfume, in their common apartment deep after midnight, and to the question: "Where have you been?" - she gets the answer: "In a perfume shop!" At this moment, she is eager to learn the whole truth from him by any means. Let's look into the lies of the strong half of humanity.

How to recognize a man's lies?

Many psychologists argue that men lie in a completely different way than women do. But recognizing the liars of the stronger sex is much easier, you just have to look closely at the behavior of the spouse, be serious in conversation and ask clear questions, then he will definitely not be able to evade the answer. So how to recognize the lies of the strong half of humanity?

The answer is simple. Guys who lie will speak in a raised voice or quite loudly, while they will try not to make eye contact with you, fiddling with a tie or collar, and also scratching their thigh in a funny way.

Men who lie regularly always drag out the final denouement, trying to go into unnecessary details and talk about different facts. And only after lengthy inquiries do they give out the whole truth. This misleads women, and most often they take a well-thought-out fact for the truth. Therefore, it should be remembered that if a man wants to hide the truth, he will do everything not to spread it.

In order to understand what was true from this story, try to return to the last conversation after a while and pay attention to the little things. Believe me, if he lied, he will never remember these moments. This is what distinguishes a man from a woman, because the fair sex remembers everything.

As you know, a lie can be good, but this happens in rare cases, so love your loved ones and try not to lie to them, because by doing so you injure their psyche, and also kill confidence in yourself. Health to you and your loved ones!

Psychology, theory of insincerity of lies

All people lie every day

Just don't deny it. We all lie in order to benefit, "to get away with it." Time " for the benefit of» people who are dear to us and are not indifferent. And who came up with this lie? Indeed, without it, it is much better, and life is somehow bright in those moments when there is not a second of lies in it. Is it possible to make life bright and very truthful? Rhetorical question….

How to recognize lies by gestures?

I wonder if we will stop lying when we know that our lies can be exposed? Recognition of a lie is extremely important for those people whose profession is connected with the purchase - sale, the underworld .... What is there to say? Are there people who enjoy being lied to? It is especially insulting if the one you trust so much deceives. After you experience a lie on yourself, you don’t want to trust someone and rely on someone at all. Every time we make a promise to ourselves not to trust anyone else, we, of course, break it, because not believing is just as impossible as not deceiving.

In order not to “burn oneself” once again and be prepared in advance for a lie, there are various methods and methods that “warn” us about it. The main thing so that you can " catch"the moment of true lies and accept it, ignoring, subsequently, everything that the interlocutor will say after.

Sign Language - Lie

I will tell you the secrets of the psychology of gestures, you can determine whether a person is lying. That's what a man does who wants to lie:

1. P touches the earlobes, rubbing and scratching them. Suppose your young man tells you that he was on a business trip without leaving his ear alone. Perhaps his business trip was somewhat different.
2. P scratches the nose. This gesture should be treated with caution, as the nose can often itch and just like that.
3. strange unnatural smile. You've probably seen this smile more than once. It seems that a person “squeezes” a smile out of himself, like toothpaste from a tube.
4. D holding on to something nearby (chair, doorknob, purse). Girls, if your young man is holding on to a bouquet of flowers, this does not count.
5. T rips hair. Is it really possible to “confuse” lies in hair? However, if your interlocutor torments his hair, in this way, perhaps he wants to hide the truth.
6. When a woman lies, she usually begins to carefully put herself in order, diligently paint her lips, comb her hair (sharply and quickly).
7. A person who hides the truth either lowers his eyes, avoiding the collision of his gaze with the gaze of the interlocutor, or, conversely, “glares” his eyes into the eyes of the opposite, trying to “absorb” invented sincerity into them.
8. D holds a hand near the mouth, as if trying to cover it, or the hand is in the throat area. Maybe there's just nowhere else to put your hand? In fact, such a gesture is a “signal” to lie.
9. The human body is like leaves" back. This can be noticed when a person, suddenly, during a conversation, leans back (as during a trip in transport).
10. P bites lips or nails. Remember how once, your neighbor, visiting you to drink tea, bit all her “manicured” nails when she told that she met a celebrity.
11. You observe a knee tremor in the interlocutor, which he tries to restrain, but in vain: trembling is strangely indefatigable.
12. H the person you are talking to adjusts the laces or collar. Yes, this can be observed, in our time, often.
13. The interlocutor put his hands in the inguinal region (not on purpose, of course, but somehow by accident, unconsciously).
14. The one with whom you communicate very often changes posture. You may get the impression that you have an uncomfortable sofa or chair.
15. He pretends to put things in order. If you think logically, then everything becomes clear: a person trying to hide a lie behind your actions.
16. Coughs often. Apparently, something dissuades him from lying, not allowing him to say a word.
17. P ri smoking, very often delayed. So the cigarette turned out to be a good "detective".
18. P barks his hands (hides them wherever possible).
19. A person takes a small step back or moves from foot to foot. This may resemble a situation when a person is cold and trying to somehow warm up.
20. If the interlocutor crosses legs and arms- he fences himself off from you so that it is easier to deceive.
21. The head is tilted back or down - this is a huge desire to hide from you.
22. Man, during the deception, holds his breath.
23. The interlocutor sits with closed or half-closed eyes - he is overcome by a huge sense of guilt. The main thing, do not confuse the “closedness” of the eyes with the fact that the person is simply tired and wants to sleep so much that he cannot keep his eyes open.
24. To When a person lies, he first speaks more quietly, then, unexpectedly for himself and others, they begin to speak very loudly.

If your interlocutor, during a conversation, suddenly, looks to the left or right, this does not mean that he is lying to you. When he looks to the right side, some kind of picture “spins” in his imagination. If to the left, he sorts through, in memory, memories.

Man is so made that it is very difficult for him to tell a lie without gestures. And he doesn't know how to lie either. There are those people who re-read a bunch of literature in order to learn not to let deception into their lives (at least from their side). However, unfortunately, it is impossible not to lie. Yes, conscience hurts. Even insomnia often creeps up. But they will not be able to "dissuade" people from lying.

People find excuses like “I lied one less lie today.” Well, you have to start somewhere. Better - less lies than usual.

What to do with lies "for the sake of good"?

And you can’t do anything with her: she will stay with you, not leaving you. Lying is like a bad habit. And then, when it “appears” during a “necessary situation” that requires you to lie, you can’t run away from it at all.

It has long been no secret that all people lie. They can cheat in small things or in more important things. Those who do not want to become their victim need to be prepared for such a turn of events and learn to recognize lies. To do this, you must have extensive experience in communicating with people and constantly train your own powers of observation. Learning to understand people is quite difficult, but still possible. Most often, a lie is determined by the eyes, facial expressions and gestures.

Eyes are a mirror...

When a person lies, it is often his eyes that give him away. With a desire, you can learn to control gestures or facial expressions, or think through a story to the smallest detail, but it is unlikely that you will be able to control eye movements. During a lie, a person feels very insecure and uncomfortable, so he tries to look away. If the interlocutor does not look directly into the eyes - this can be considered as the first sign of deception.

But not everything is so simple. Almost everyone knows how to detect lies in the eyes, so they use the method "on the contrary." If a person looks directly with an unblinking gaze, he may want to justify himself. An overly honest look often indicates the untruthfulness of the words of the interlocutor. It seems that he wants to penetrate the thoughts of the opponent and see if he believes him. And if a liar is taken by surprise, most likely, he will try to switch his attention or leave for another room.

It is almost impossible to control, so a person who lies has a different look. The pupil becomes much smaller than usual.

Blood to the face...

Determining lies by the eyes is not the only way to recognize lies. When a person tells a lie, tiny wrinkles appear around his eyes. Sometimes you can even see them with the naked eye. If there are doubts about the sincerity of the words of the opponent, you should carefully observe his skin around the eyes.

Four directions of the world

Thinking about the eyes, you can observe in which direction the interlocutor is looking. If his gaze is directed to the right, then he is deceiving. When people look up and straight, it means that at that moment they come up with a picture or image for themselves. To represent sounds or a phrase, the person will look to the right and straight ahead. When the script is ready, the deceiver will look to the right and down. But these rules only apply if the person is right-handed. In a left-hander, the position of the eyes is the opposite when lying.

If the gaze moves quickly from one object to another, then this is also an occasion to think about how to determine a lie in the eyes.

Guilt

Knowing the basic secrets, you can easily determine whether a person is deceiving or not. Many people during a false story experience At this time, the eyes go down, and sometimes to the side. To determine a lie, it is necessary to compare the movements of the eyeballs with the words that the opponent pronounces.

"fixed" eyes

Psychologists are sure that a frozen look is a sign that a person is telling a lie. To check this, it is enough to ask the interlocutor to remember some detail. If he continues to look straight ahead and does not blink, he is most likely not to be trusted. In the case when the opponent answers the question posed without hesitation and without changing the position of the eyes, one can suspect him of insincerity. When the number of blinks increases, this indicates that the person feels uncomfortable and wants to move away from the outside world.

But the definition of a lie by the eyes in this way is not fair in the case when the events took place ten or fifteen minutes ago. Also, do not get hung up on a fixed look when a person provides information that is very important to him, for example, an address or phone number.

A sharp look away

When communicating with a person, you can sometimes notice how he quickly looks away to the side during the story, and then looks back at the interlocutor. It is very likely that his actions indicate that he is trying to hide something.

If the interlocutor looked directly and openly throughout the conversation, and when touching on a certain topic, he began to look away or avoid direct contact, then this is one of the signs of how to recognize a lie in the eyes. But sometimes insecure and insecure people behave this way if the topic of the conversation makes them feel uncomfortable. In this case, it makes no sense to talk about deception on the basis of this sign alone.

Frightened expression

A person who cheats is always afraid of being exposed. Therefore, during a conversation, he may be a little scared. But only an experienced psychologist can distinguish him from the usual shyness in front of an unfamiliar person or an unusual situation.

Eyes are not the only indicator of lies. Analyzing the behavior of the interlocutor, it is worth evaluating the full picture: pay attention to gestures, posture and facial expressions. Any information about a person will come in handy in order to correctly match the words and the “picture”. Therefore, it is not worth doing.

Facial expressions while lying

Knowing the position of the eyes when lying is important, but it is not enough. It is necessary to observe the speech of a person, his movements and behavior. During a false story, changes are sure to be noticeable. It is necessary to evaluate facial expressions and gestures only in combination with speech and voice parameters.

Intonation and smile

When the interlocutor deceives, his speech and intonations will change. The voice may tremble, and words are spoken more slowly or, conversely, faster. Some people develop hoarseness or slip high notes. If the interlocutor is shy, then he may begin to stutter.

Smiling can also reveal insincerity. Many people smile a little when they lie. The interlocutor should be alerted if the smile is completely inappropriate. This facial expression allows you to hide a little awkwardness and excitement. But this does not apply to cheerful people who always try to smile.

Facial muscle tension

If you look at your opponent very carefully, you can figure out whether he is cheating or not. It will be given out by microtension of the facial muscles, which lasts for several seconds. No matter how “stone” the interlocutor speaks, instant tension is still inevitable.

The deceiver is betrayed not only by the position of the eyes when lying, but also by uncontrolled skin and other parts of the face. The most common include: lip twitching, rapid blinking, or changes in skin color.

Lie gestures

Well-known experts agreed that when a person cheats, he performs typical actions:

• touches the face with hands;
• covers the mouth;
• scratching your nose, rubbing your eyes, or touching your ear;
• pulls the collar on the clothes.

But all these gestures can speak of lies only when other signs of deception are present. Therefore, the most reliable is the definition of a lie by the eyes, facial expressions, movements and behavior. By learning to diagnose a lie, you can avoid the fate of the victim and always feel confident.

As practice shows, the person who often communicates with other people is able to accurately recognize lies. He must also be able to soberly perceive the situation and events, be attentive and try to notice all the nuances and subtleties of their behavior. Rich communication experience and the ability to analyze will help to correctly perceive all the information received and evaluate its reliability.

"Lie to Me" is one of the few shows based on a proven scientific hypothesis. The prototype of its main character, Dr. Cal Lightman, was the largest specialist in the field of the psychology of emotions, Paul Ekman. He found that people of all cultures expressed feelings in the same way in terms of facial expressions, and discovered micromovements - short episodes of facial activity that indicate emotions - even in cases when a person tries to hide them. T&P have put together a guide to Paul Ekman's technologies to help you learn to see lies.

For a long time, science did not pay any attention to facial expressions. It was first taken up by Charles Darwin, who, among other works, published the book On the Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in 1872. The scientist said that facial expressions are universal not only for our species, but also for animals: for example, like dogs, people grin when they are angry. At the same time, Darwin argued that our gestures, unlike facial expressions, can be called conditional, and was sure that they depend on what culture a person belongs to.

For almost a century, this work of Darwin remained practically forgotten. If it was remembered in scientific circles, then only in order to challenge it. Only in the 30s of the 20th century did the French neuroanatomist Duchen de Boulogne turn to her, who tried to refute the theory of the Nazi scientist, who claimed that “representatives of lower races” could be recognized by gestures.

In the 60s, the hypotheses voiced in "On the Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals" and repeatedly mentioned by de Bulon were popularized by the American psychologist Paul Ekman. He did a series of studies to test this theory, and found that Charles Darwin was right: in different cultures, gestures do differ, but facial expressions do not. Ekman's opponents argued that Hollywood and television were to blame, which broadcasts an average image of facial expressions, which is largely taken as a standard in different countries. To challenge this assumption, in 1967 and 1968, the scientist studied the facial expressions of representatives of one of the tribes in Papua New Guinea. These people have never been in close contact with either Western or Eastern culture and were at a stage of development similar to the Stone Age. Ekman found that in this case, too, the basic emotions were expressed in the same ways as in the rest of the world. The "Facial Movement Coding System" (FACS), a method for classifying human facial expressions originally developed by Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen in 1978 and based on a selection of photographs with associated emotions, has proven to be universal. Even today, this peculiar musical notation for a face makes it possible to determine what mimic movements this or that emotional expression consists of.

From surprise to contempt: seven universal emotions

There are only seven emotions that have a universal form of expression:

Astonishment,
- fear,
- disgust,
- anger,
- joy,
- sadness,
- contempt.

All of them are encrypted in FACS and EmFACS (an updated and expanded version of the system), so that each emotion can be found and identified by characteristic features, assessing its intensity and degree of mixing with other feelings. To do this, there are basic codes (for example, code 12: "Lift of the corner of the lip", zygomaticus major), codes for head movements, codes for eye movements, codes for visibility (for example, when eyebrows are not visible, you need to put code 70) and codes for general behavior, which allow recording swallowing, shrugging, shaking, etc. “There are uncontrolled, unintentional facial expressions, as well as softened or feigned expressions in which the experienced emotion is weakened, or an emotion is simulated that is not currently being experienced,” writes Paul Ekman in his book "Know a liar by facial expressions." Unintentional expressions always appear behind the "screen" created on the face. In this case, they can be determined by micromovements. Usually such expressions occur for only a fraction of a second, so training is needed in order to detect them.

There are three areas of the face on our face that can move independently:

Eyebrows and forehead;
- eyes, eyelids and bridge of the nose;
- lower part of the face: cheeks, mouth, most of the nose and chin.

Each of them has its own movement pattern in each of the seven cases. For example, in surprise, the eyebrows rise, the eyes open wide, the jaws open, and then the lips open. Fear looks different: the eyebrows are raised and slightly reduced to the bridge of the nose; the upper eyelids are also raised, exposing the sclera, the lower eyelids are tense; the mouth is slightly open, and the lips are also slightly tense and drawn back.

Paul Ekman gives a detailed micro-motion map for each universal emotion in his book and offers photos for self-practice. To use this book to learn how to quickly determine what feeling is expressed on a human face, you need to find a partner who will show you these photos - completely or covering part of the image with an L-shaped mask. The book also allows you to learn to determine the degree of expression of emotions and recognize the components of mixed facial expressions: bittersweet sadness, frightened surprise, and so on.

Deceptive Expressions: Message Control

“It is easier to fake words than facial expressions,” writes Paul Ekman. - We were all taught to speak, we all have a fairly large vocabulary and knowledge of grammar rules. There are not only spelling, but also encyclopedic dictionaries. You can pre-write the text of your speech. But try to do the same with your facial expression. You don't have any "dictionary of facial expressions" at your disposal. It's much easier to suppress what you say than what you show."

According to Paul Ekman, a person who lies in facial expressions of his feelings or in his words usually seeks to satisfy his current need: a pickpocket pretends to be surprised, an unfaithful husband hides a smile of joy at the sight of his mistress if his wife is nearby, and so on. "However, the word 'false' doesn't always correctly describe what happens in these cases," explains Ekman. - It suggests that the only important message is the message about the true feeling that underlies the false message. But a false message can also be important if you know it is false. Instead of calling this process lying, you should better call it message control, because lying itself can also convey a useful message.”

In such cases, two messages are present on the person's face: one reflects the actual feeling, and the other is what he wants to convey. Paul Ekman first became seriously interested in this problem when he encountered the behavior of patients suffering from severe depression. In conversations with doctors, they claimed (mimicry and verbally) that they were joyful, but in fact they sought to stop their hospitalization and commit suicide. In Lie to Me, the writers also raise this issue: in the story, the mother of Dr. Cal Lightman committed suicide after she managed to deceive psychiatrists in this way. Later, while watching videos of her conversations with doctors, the protagonist of the series discovers a micro expression of sadness on her face.

The control of the mimic message can be different:

mitigation,
- modulation,
- falsification.

Softening, as a rule, occurs by adding facial or verbal comments to an already present expression. For example, if an adult is afraid of the dentist, they may wince slightly, adding an element of self-loathing to the expression of fear on their face. Through mitigation, people often communicate to others that they are able to deal with their feelings and bring their own behavior into line with cultural norms or the current situation.

In the case of modulation, the person adjusts the intensity of the expression of the emotion rather than commenting on it. “There are three ways to modulate facial expressions,” writes Paul Ekman. “You can change the number of areas of the face involved, the duration of the expression, or the amplitude of the contraction of the facial muscles.” Generally, all three methods are used. But with falsification, the mimic process becomes false: the face does not show the emotion that the person actually experiences (simulation), nothing is shown when there is actually a feeling (neutralization), or one expression is hidden behind another (disguise) .

Physiology of lies: place, time and microexpressions

To learn to recognize lies on faces, you need to pay attention to five aspects

Morphology of the face (specific configuration of features);
- temporal characteristics of emotions (how quickly it arises and how long it lasts);
- the place of expression of emotions on the face;
- micro-expressions (they interrupt the main expression);
- social context (if fear is visible on an angry face, you need to think about whether there are objective reasons for this).

People who control their facial expressions pay the most attention to their lower parts: mouth, nose, chin and cheeks. After all, it is through the mouth that we carry out sound communication, including wordless: screams, crying, laughter. But the eyelids and eyebrows more often “show” the true feeling - however, the eyebrows are also used for mimic falsification, which can affect the appearance of the upper eyelids. What and how exactly turns out to be “out of place” in the process of deception depends on what exactly is broadcast and what is hidden. For example, the expression of joy does not require us to use the forehead at all - so if it covers another emotion, the latter should be looked for in this area.

From Ekman's books, one can learn to recognize different fake facial expressions in different situations: to see frightened eyebrows on a neutral face (which indicates genuine fear), to detect the absence of tension in the lower eyelids on an angry face (which indicates that anger is fake), to find information leaks about real anger under the guise of disgust, notice the pauses between the verbal communication of the emotion and the appearance of its false version on the face (1.5 seconds) and pay attention to other important little things.

But the main skill that Ekman's books and trainings allow you to develop is the recognition of microexpressions. These manifestations of emotions usually do not last very long: from half to a quarter of a second. You can learn how to find them using the same photos and an L-shaped mask - if the images quickly replace each other. The presence of micro-expressions, however, does not mean that a person does not simultaneously mask, weaken, and neutralize the emotions experienced. These short episodes of facial activity are a symptom of deception or, in extreme cases, a sign that the person himself does not know what he feels, but their absence does not mean anything.

Today, Paul Ekman and his research team are conducting emotion recognition training for customs, police and border guards, HR professionals, and others who often have to look for lies or prove facts. However, his developments are useful not only at the border: they can help journalists during interviews, teachers in the classroom, businessmen in negotiations, and many other people. However, neither Dr. Lightman's techniques from the show nor Dr. Ekman's techniques that formed the basis of "Lie to Me" should be used at home. After all, not every deceit actually entails negative consequences - and close people should be given the right to a secret, since not everything that they hide is relevant to us.

Pictures © Matthieu Bourel