Body Language Gestures That Show Someone Is Lying 

Body language gestures are a window to understanding a person. Having an understanding of gestures that show someone is lying can prove to be game-changing, especially in a world where communication is much more than just words.

The typical signs of lying are very well recognized, it's the unique and often disregarded signals which set these people apart.

Let's take a deeper look into these cues and why they are important to identify.

Unfortunately, lying and deceit have become quite common. (Image via Vecteezy/ Turgay Koca)

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Body Language Gestures of Lying

There are gestures that make people like you, but there are also some that are indicative of deceit. Here are a few common and yet interesting body language gestures indicative of lying behavior:

1. Pitch and tone

Pitch and tone are one of the most complex and yet revealing features of the body. (Image via Vecteezy/ Taras Dubov)

Our primary medium of effective communication is verbal conversations. This is especially tricky to detect. A lot of individuals with lying tendencies modulate the pitch and tone, making it difficult for the other person to understand. They may either have a high pitch or display a sudden drop in tonality.

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2. Subtle body movements

Lying is a subtle process and can't always be observed grossly. (Image via Vecteezy/ Turgay Koca)

A compulsive liar tends to engage in subtle body movements. Remember, that this is not something they are doing for the first time. Rather, they have trained their bodies to become subtle in movements. The lie detector test came into origin to detect these deeper physiological reactions, since it became so difficult to detect lies.

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3. Defensiveness

Defensiveness is a common form of lying. (Image via Freepik/ Cookie_studio)

Naturally, lying also involves some amount of defensiveness. They may want to change the topic, not address things directly, or avoid consistent eye contact. It may also be the opposite of these actions. Most of the time, these will be extreme in nature.

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4. Movement of the lips

A liar puts effort into hiding their lies. (Image via Vecteezy/ Icon Ade)

Lips don't lie. This indeed makes a lot of sense when you observe someone lying close to you. There may be subtle compression between their lips, especially when lying about specific facts.

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5. Blinking

Sometimes their body language can be too obvious. (Image via Freepik/ Kamran Aydinov)

An unexpected rise in the blinking of the eye can be an underlying signal. It signifies anxiety and discomfort linked with the deceit. Always be aware of this cue. However, sometimes they may not blink for a very long time. Remember that most of the individuals with lying tendencies are doing their research to not get caught.

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6. Face gestures

Focus on the entire face to detect cues. (Image via Vecteezy/ Thanasak Wongsuk)

Despite the usual hand-to-mouth body language gestures, bring your attention to the entire face. Dishonest people may scratch their heads, touch their hair, rid of their eyeballs, indicating the discomfort and the need to keep something hidden.

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The mysterious realm of human body language is a fascinating world full of unspoken cues. Many of these signs reveal the underlying truth behind words. A lot of psychological research points to the importance of non-verbal language in communication.

If you start to suspect someone that they must be lying, always remember to look for the underlying cues which the body language gestures are always whispering.

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Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.

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