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Subscribe to RSSWe know our faces may give away our fibs -- whether it's shifty eyes, a sweaty upper lip, a slight smirk, or Pinocchio's fictitious lengthening nose.
Now a new study reveals that muscles in the upper face may divulge when people are not telling the truth. Researchers found four different facial muscles that a trained eye can use to separate genuine expressions of emotion from deceptive ones.
"Facial cues are an important, but often ignored, aspect of credibiity assessments where an emotional issue is in question," says study author Dr. Leanne ten Brinke.
"Cues to emotional deception are likely to occur when the underlying emotion a liar is attempting to mask is relatively strong," suggests ten Brinke of the Centre for the Advancement of Psychological Science and Law at the University of British Columbia - Okanagan.
For the study, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, researchers watched the videotaped facial actions of 52 people who made televised pleas for the safe return of a missing relative. As it turns out, half of the pleas were from deceptive individuals who were later convicted of murdering their loved one.
Coders analyzed more than 23,000 frames of video from real-life cases in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. They compared the facial actions of 26 genuine pleaders to those of 26 liars.
By looking closely, researchers found some facial muscles "leak" signs of our true feelings during these intensely emotional and pressurized pleas to the public.
Genuine pleaders showed more contraction of two facial muscles related to grief and sadness: corrugator supercilii, one of the three muscles of the eyelid that helps wrinkle the forehead, and depressor anguli oris, a mouth muscle that is associated with frowning. In liars, they detected subtle contractions of the zygomatic major, a facial muscle linked with masking a smile, and full contraction of the frontalis muscle suggestive of a failed attempt to seem sad.
"What was surprising was just how strong these facial failures were able to predict which pleaders were the deceptive murderers compared to the genuinely distressed relatives," points out ten Brinke. She says muscles in the upper face "leak" signs of true emotion because they are under less of our conscious and voluntary control.
Can you use these facial muscles to tell when your teenager or a cheating spouse is lying to you? Some clues may be revealed by asking emotional questions and looking for seemingly out of place emotional expressions particularly in the upper face, suggests ten Brinke.
But it's not a silver bullet.
"Facial analysis does not provide us with a Pinocchio's nose," admits ten Brinke. "Not everyone will leak their true emotions, and some people are better than others at adopting a false face -- like psychopaths," she adds.
Related:
- Why do women smile more than men?
- How to spot a fake smile: It's all in the eyes
- Pants on fire: Scientifically proven ways to catch a liar
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Leave a Comment:
So, if you are going to lie, make sure that you move the following muscles and shape your face the following way...
How about trying something new like, try telling the truth.
I'm pretty good at reading character. That's enough.
Will-1091847 in this digital age , where face-to-face contact seems to have no enchanced quality, if someone is going to lie to you the will text or email it to you, not even the courtesy of a phone call.
I tried telling the truth to the Christians and Muslims...that there's no proof of God's existence but they are a stubborn lot...
@Mike- Proof is unnecessary when you have faith.
emotional botox shots are necessary when a major lie is to be told.
Sp, if you are going to lie, raise your eyebrows up and down like Groucho Marx.
dude im am totally lmao
This explains a lot about why I have been accused of lying even though I am telling the truth; my facial expression tends to seem cold to other people even when I am not feeling cold. This has been a life long problem and has made me very wary of social interactions. I may try practicing moving the aforementioned muscles in front of a mirror and see if I can improve my facial expression, although at this late date I don't have a lot of hope. I have better luck with animals, who seem to read me better.
I was 56 years old when I found out that people used their face and body for language. Before that I was totally clueless that people were trying to communicate with me by facial expressions/body attitude.I did not immediately pick up on it when I DID know, either. I am still clueless of what they are trying to exhibit, however now I do know I am missing something.
As for how people see MY facial expressions/body language is anybodies guess. My face/body just does not give those clues - and I have been accused of horrific and 'couldn't give a rap' attitudes when all I am doing in just STANDING there and LOOKING at people.
Animals never make a mistake, though. They always know I am a friend.
This is why it's more a carnival sideshow item than something useful. Yes it exists but others can't rely on being able to get it right when they meet you. It's better on job interviews to ask for verifiable info, verify it, and not hire or fire the liars. In contracts we have to imbad terms of what will happen if the other side fails to uphold the contract. IT's also a good thing to go first to people you know you can trust. And rely on a well written contract. Polygraphs are not used in court because they can be defeated by certain people and the operator may not be perfect at it. Certain people can also defeat the ability to read their face when they are lying. Interesting article though.
@ireadyou, wtf are you talking about
IReadyou, paying attention to your instincts is a good thing, too, and employers who hire people who look really good on paper but make the hair stand up on your neck aren't great workers in the long run unless you are hiring assassins. I guess not even then since one could double cross you. A balance between facts and instinct is a reasonable way to live.
Nope.
Some are as smooth as silk as they stand before us in public (sociopaths) because they discovered the typical human behavior and work feverishly hard to conceal it. Every member of Congress that takes acting lessons, for example.
Because for some innocent people that these "rats" intimidate feel anxiety because they were just threatened by thugs or surrounded by criminally-acting law enforcement officers that frighten the piss out of them for sport.
Keep your interpretations of human behavior for the courtroom. Most news journalists only help the criminals we have in Washington today.
The problem I have with assumptions like these is that while they may work in general, as in most (or even all) liars may contract this muscle or not that one, there are sometimes gray areas that people may show as a false positive for.
Examples....if my child drowns in a bathtub I may have real grief, but also guilt for turning my head or whatever contributed to it. So if that polygraph operator or facial expression interpreter isn't very very careful and doesn't ask the perfect questions, how do we know the person isn't feeling related guilt but not really telling a lie? If they ask, "Did you drown your child" and I have enormous guilt and feel I might as well have done it on purpose (even though it was really an accident), is my expression when they ask me going to reflect my real innocence of murder or my perceived feeling of guilt of murder that isn't true?
If my child is missing and I feel totally responsible since I turned my back for a second or texted someone while s/he disappeared...does that guilt and my belief that I really did harm my child going to get me branded as a liar? I don't know the answers to this....? It's a good tool, but I wouldn't feel comfortable sending someone to prison based on it. I used to be Catholic and I grew up guilty for everything in the world. Not bashing religion, but just saying I know others who grew up this way as well.
Insightful and well said, good examples also. Without doubt jumping to conclusions on such serious issues has many potential hazards to put it lightly, and unfortunately it seems to be an increasing trend in our society.
I don't care if someone is lying to me or not. The truth will eventually come out and if it doesn't it didn't matter much anyway.
Ever see the TV show "Lie to Me"?
yeah Howard , i really like that show ... i must say, i learnt a lot from it. I pay more attention to the little things that people would normally not bother with. Stuff like eye contact, voice tone, the first split second facial reaction before its masked etc etc ... :-D
We watched it and enjoyed it except the main actor tended to mutter and I couldn't always understand him...lol. But for me it was nice to see why I have read body language and truthfulness well...I would say I was seeing those cues but not noticing them individually to identify why I just "knew". That was an interesting show...nice to see people thinking instead of always killing each other.
I tend to believe people.
I also cannot lie myself. I can't bring myself to deliberately and knowingly say something untrue. If I say something that turns out to be wrong, I'm horrified and worry people will think I lied to them.
It's funny because during the Bush Regime when Cheney would be 'talking' I thought he had a twitch. Almost right in the middle of his forehead one muscle would seem to contract involuntarily. Not moving his eyebrows or anything, nothing obvious, but just enough to move about 1/2 an inch of his forehead just a fraction over from the middle & for only a fraction of a second. I would say "he's lying, look at his twitch!" Then I noticed my daughter has the same twitch!!! So, now when she's trying to get around the truth I'll give her the look & she stops mid sentence, covers her forehead & screams, "Quit looking at me!!!"
Oh, by, how funny about your daughter!!! I noticed that twitch too, and I never believed a word that came out of his mouth. One of my daughters gets absolutely still and looks so sad when she tries to lie it is kind of comical, and the other would feel so guilty she would turn herself in if she ever managed to get out a whole lie...lol.
I have always found body language interpretation interesting but it does not always take into consideration an individual's life experiences, i.e. what child got blamed for everything whether or not they did it, etc. I have a friend who is really into body language and actually it is very uncomfortable to be with her at times because I never know if she is "reading me" or what.
I can't stand people who think they know everything because of body language. Sitting with my arms crossed is often more comfortable for me than hanging my arms at my sides, mainly because of an old shoulder injury.
The next time your friend interprets your body language, let her know that you are uncomfortable with her constant analyses. If sbe doesn't respect your boundaries, be sure to tell her you are just [insert body language she has mentioned] in order to suppress your sociopathic urge to to rip her throat out and throw it down a garbage disposal. Be sure to say it without blinking or smiling. That might get her to keep her analyses to herself.
Wow! This is definitely going to boost the market for Botox injections..
I guess when the skin on the face splits open then you'll know that Botox beauty is either lying or it's molting season and getting ready to shed her exoskeleton!
hahahahah K Man .......ewwwww
In the case of NBC, you can tell they're lying because they pretend that they're spouting 'news'.
NBC deliberately cut the 911 call from the Martin-Zimmerman incident.
NBC deliberately blew up a vehicle to prove it was 'unsafe'.
NBC is full of what makes the grass grow.
We read people at all levels, subliminally, consciously and unconsciously, we read them through our emotions and our logic. Many things tell us when a person is lying to us, we just have to listen to the cues. I always check for the emotion to follow the statement, if someone says they are sorry and does not act or even look sorry, then they are not sorry. I look people in the eye, they have a hard time lying to me, lol, and when they do, I know it and they know I know it.
One of the best ways to keep people from lying to you is to question something they say that doesn't make sense, or state the truth of the matter, they have a hard time denying it. The key is to stick by your truth, they will falter when they are lying.
The study doesn't take into account people with dentures, partials or no dentures whose facial muscles, and jaw muscles in which all facial features undergo a reordering of useage and relaxation to adapt to dentural conditions. And they are in fact more sensitive to the people around them. So if that part of the brain function that controls a persons perceptions of others, or others perceptions of the individual. I recall other studies indicated this activity occurs in the left side forward hemisphere, some people may actually mimmick in facial expressions the emotions or perceptions of those around them due to the increased sensitivity of how others perceptions may affect the individual, and not neccessarily just one's individual perceptions of one's self. So even if a person may appear depressed and frown or appear to show guilt due to facial muscles that have collapsed or relaxed in adaptation to having no upper or lower teeth or having partials, those facial expressions may actually be showing confidence, or sterness, and even pride. Its too easy to misinterpret facial expressions or judge people by those expressions which are unconcious and uncontrollable, but being human, dozens of emotions and impressions can flow through a person all at once or even all at once in a short period of time and some of those expressions may indicate some of those emotions over a short time, and would also include the perceptions of those around the individual, not always neccessarily of the individual.
Yes, facial muscles can tell a lot about a person as well as ear lobes. However, it takes someone who is really good at it. I have read a number of books on body language over the years; I am not an expert. What I do know is when one does not have open palms or partially open, chances are they are lying. I have personally experienced it with a relative. I knew he was lying because the tops of his hands were exposed. Only a very good con artist can lie and show the palms of their hands.
That is ridiculous and inaccurate.
Have you heard of the common malady, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Have you heard of torn rotator cuffs?
People with injuries posture themselves in whatever manner is comfortable to them.
I've noticed that if I make something up/lie/bullsh!t, people believe me, but if I tell them the absoulte truth, they don't.
When my boss lies or exaggerates, his whole forehead wrinkles as he speaks, but this happens to my sister when she's telling the truth about something upsetting that affects her emotions, and her eyes might shift around as she looks for words. In general, I have found people who use the words "I'm being honest, don't you believe me?" to be lying, and these same people will also get defensive if you say "No, I do NOT believe you".
Whatever this method entails, it should be used on each and every political "public servant" and reported on to the public during and (fully) after anything they say televised. Then, call them on those lies and watch them grasp at straws to talk their way out of it while showing more and more they are honestly lying through that thin smile.
I'd bet most politicians would no longer do anything televised.
HAHAHA! It would be alot easier to research the people that tell the TRUTH! But, I am really, really busy and don't have time to talk to them, face to face!!!!!!
Old news but in a new study....I even went to seminar paid for by my employer some 16 years ago because it was supposed to help me when interviewing prospective new employees....and well, the person who gave the seminar admitted it was only correct maybe 25% percent of the time....and after doing over 5000 face to face interviews 9 out of 10 were caught by the polygraph and Urine test so we despensed with trying to use garbage like this study....Even the alleged computer programs that are supposed to detect dishonesty or other types of behavior are for the most part wrong some 95% of the time....So, New News which is Old News and it will be a long time before it could be used in a Court Room and that is where it should count,,if it really works...Lol's
P.S. it also does not take into consideration, allergies, tired eyes, or dry eyes which also make the muscles in the area mention twitch and shift..And in one Interview for a job I interviewed for,,the woemen's perfume was burning my eyes...Lol..So anyone who uses this as a sole source to make a decsion should be fired or given a new job...