Detecting a Lie: How You Can Tell If Someone is Lying to You

Lying can sometimes get you out of trouble, but other times get you into trouble. You have lied to someone before and gotten away, but can someone lying get away from you as well? A lie is an untruthful statement made to someone else with the intention to deceive, sometimes for the good and other times to cover up and mischief.

Our natural instinct is to trust others, and for day-to-day activities and interactions, it all does come down to that one word. That's why we save time, money, and energy by stating quick statements such as "That's a nice haircut" to "What a good day".

Here's a look at some ways you, the interrogator, can learn about lies and take control of the situation and see if someone is lying to you.

Types of Lies

A white lie is when the cause of the lie has no punishment if uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar of hearer, or both. For example when a friend has broken his leg you tell him that it's alright and he'll be fine to comfort him.

Lying by omission allows another person to believe something to be true that one believes is false, by failing to reveal one's belief, rather than being untruthful. This is a type of lie you would tell or show if you don't feel like participating in an activity or wouldn't be serious if you told the opposite.

Perjury is not the same as lying since it does not require an intention to deceive, and since it requires the statements made, under oath, be false as well as untruthful, and be about facts material to the hearing. Perjury is mostly used in court settings.

Bluffing is an act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of a game where it helps the most. For instance, Texas Hold'em Poker and Spades are couple games that use bluffing as strategies.

Misleading is when a person tells a statement that isn't an outright dirty lie, but still has purpose of making someone believe in an untruth. For example when playing around with a couple buddies and you happen to knock over a glass vase and saying that it fell because of carpet bumped into the stand.

Dissembling is a polite term for liar or lying.

Careful speaking usually involves carefully-phrased statements to give a 'half-answer'. Someone who does not actually 'answer' the question but still provides an appropriate and accurate answer based on the question.

Catching a Lie

1. Look for body language and for physical clues as in sweating and fidgeting. Being asked a question not really known or replacing the answer with a
false one can lead to nervousness says Derrick Parker, a 20-year veteran for the New York Police Department and a co-author of Notorious C.O.P.

2. Lindsay Moran, a former CIA officer and author of Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy says to seek detail because the average liar will not give enough information for you to fully understand. It will most always be a lack of detail and a blurred story.

3. Beware of the unpleasantness you will receive when someone is lying to you. He or she will be less cooperative and more negative with statements and complaints not to include less friendly.

4. Observe to see if you get direct contact with the person you are 'interrogating'. Failure to make eye contact is often a sign of deceit.

5. Signs of stress can be a major factor and when often under a lot of stress one's pupil can get dilated and have a rise in vocal pitch.

6. Listen for pauses when he or she answers you, for those thoughts take longer when trying to make up a lie.

7. Tell that person to tell you what they said again or repeat the story and listen for inconsistency to ferret out any difference and lies.

Those are the types of lies and ways to tell a lie apart from the truth. Unfortunately, us as humans are not very good at detecting lies. It would be too much work to analyze every interaction for signs of deception and misleading information, but there are times when we really need to know if we're getting the straight story. Whether its business to politics, from friendship to romance and love, it would be nice to know when we're being lied to.