{"id":828,"date":"2026-02-17T02:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/?p=828"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:25:00","slug":"the-only-real-way-to-catch-a-liar-according-to-psychologists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/2026\/02\/17\/the-only-real-way-to-catch-a-liar-according-to-psychologists\/","title":{"rendered":"The only real way to catch a liar, according to psychologists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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PSYCHOLOGY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only real way to catch a liar, according to psychologists<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

These are the hidden tactics that give deceivers the upper hand<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Hatty Willmoth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Selection
Photo credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Deep down, you probably believe you can sniff out lies like a bad smell. Perhaps inspired by Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, you may have confidence in your strong gut instinct and powers of deduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s okay if you do \u2013 you\u2019re not alone. Most of us think we\u2019re pretty great at lie detection. That was the conclusion of a 2023 study<\/a>, in which 75 per cent of its 500 participants said they could spot lies well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is they were wrong \u2013 and so are you (probably). Most of us are actually rubbish at sorting fact from fiction. In scientific studies, members of the public who are asked to detect lies tend to have success rates of around 54 per cent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmpirically, people are bad at spotting deception,\u201d says Prof Sander van der Linden, director of the University of Cambridge\u2019s Social Decision-Making Lab. \u201cIf you look at meta-analyses, people do marginally better than chance. That\u2019s pretty bad. We\u2019re basically just guessing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a fan of the BBC\u2019s The Traitors<\/em>, you might already know this. Time and time again, contestants fail to recognise barefaced liars and vote out the wrong people instead, sometimes with surprising confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But why? What do we miss when we\u2019re looking for deception? It turns out, an awful lot \u2013 all while liars hone their craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. We’re looking in all the wrong places<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When trying to find fibbers, most people\u2019s go-to strategy is flawed, says Prof Geoff Beattie, a psychologist at Edge Hill University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you ask people, \u2018How can you tell if someone\u2019s lying?\u2019, they always say the same thing: \u2018people look away when they lie,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cAcross a whole range of different countries and cultures, people believe that it\u2019s the universal sign. But eye contact is a really poor signal of deception.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists have known this for decades. Back in 2010<\/a>, researchers from the City University of New York found that people tend to avert their gaze when remembering real memories, as well as falsehoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLiars know that people look for eye contact, so they use that to their advantage,\u201d explains Beattie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey can plan in advance what they\u2019re going to say and maintain eye contact, whereas a truthful person might look away because they\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leal says: \u201cA two-year-old child will look you straight in the eye and say that they didn\u2019t eat chocolate, when they did. We learn very, very quickly to hide nonverbal behaviours\u201d. Photo credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But eye contact isn\u2019t the only behaviour that we mistakenly rely on. Many of us search for signs of emotion that we assume should coincide with lying \u2013 such as nervousness, anxiety or guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome people get away with lying because they come across as really confident,\u201d says Dr Sharon Leal<\/a>, a forensic psychologist at the University of Portsmouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost people don\u2019t look nervous when they lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA two-year-old child will look you straight in the eye and say that they didn\u2019t eat chocolate, when they did. We learn very, very quickly to hide nonverbal behaviours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Leal continues, liars tend to be hyperaware of behaviours that might give them away \u2013 such as nervous fidgeting \u2013 and they cover them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as you think you might be doing these things, you monitor them,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, a truthteller can look far more guilty than a liar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, Leal adds, some people may not feel anxious or guilty when lying, particularly if they have certain dark traits \u2013 but more on that later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read More:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n