Why Body Language Always Tells the Truth!
Elangovan, February 7, 2019
Trusting your intuition or gut is said to be a most important life skill. It is believed by many, professionals and laymen, FBI investigators and CEOs, that your gut feeling is never wrong.
This isn’t exactly true!
Human beings don’t exist in vacuums. We are influenced, however subtly, by the environments we find ourselves in. Perceptions become clouded and jaded, informed by the millions of tiny bits of information we come into contact with daily.
It is, for example, easier to assume that a black man in America asking you for directions is about to rob you. It has become as easy, since 9’11, to assume that all Muslims are terrorists. This is definitely not the case, but with the media spinning stories in pursuit of profit and sensationalism, we have been fed a nightmare pill that makes it more palatable for us to expect the worst, while hoping – or not hoping – for the best.
While your instincts can be honed over time, with practice, it is especially important for criminologists and anybody in the ranks of law enforcement to seek out reliable determinants of human behavior and truth. Becoming an expert at reading and deciphering body language is one such reliable determinant.
Why?
Because body language seldom lies!
Degrees of Falsehood
You might ignore the reveals of a friend or lover, even when you know they are lying to you, in an effort to preserve not just their feelings, but the relationship in its fragile entirety. We often overlook little white lies, because they have little to no effect on our lives.
‘I’m almost done,’ ‘I fed the cat,’ ‘I washed your shirt,’ and ‘see you in an hour,’ are all little lies that have no impact on our sense of peace and security, unless you suffer from Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).
However, a terrorist covering up a terrorist plot or hiding information crucial to uncovering a terrorist cell, an individual hiding facts about a rape, theft or murder, and a CEO hiding important information from shareholders that could see them lose a lot of money due to inaction are a different case altogether. These are no longer white lies, and the sooner you get at the truth, the safer you will be.
These are two opposite ends of the lying spectrum, and investigators need to make it their business to understand body language if they are to mitigate the effects of the latter extreme.
There are a couple of myths about this, though!
Body Language-Debunking the Myths
Brian D. Fitch of the Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Department holds a Ph.D., and in an article on the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin outlined some of these myths.
The biggest myth, according to Fitch, is that there are signs of deception that are universal. This is a myth because, well, not all liars act the same way. To assume, therefore, that a person is lying just because the exhibit the expected behavior of deceivers, is a dangerous precedent.
One person may not be able to look you in the eye, while another equally deceptive person might increase eye contact, both in response to the same interrogation. One person might appear calm, breathing steadily, while another might shuffle and breathe rapidly.
Human behavior is not universal, and neither is body language. This is important to know.
A second equally crippling myth is that guilt and nerves go hand in hand. Assuming that a person with nothing to hide is calm, with no reason to be nervous, is incorrect and dangerous. Interrogations can be stressful, for both the innocent and guilty, so assuming that only guilty people appear nervous is dangerous.
There are many other myths associated with body language, but these two are sufficient to let you know not to make any assumptions.
How, then, does body language reveal the truth behind the lies?
Fooling All of the People, All of the Time
There is a saying, a popular saying, that ‘you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.’
This is where the truth behind body language comes in. You might be able to hide certain aspects of ourselves from people, but according to Alex Lickerman, ‘through facial expression, body language and tone, we reveal feelings and intentions, without even knowing it.’
So while it might be possible to get away with lies with some people, even the most competent poker players and politicians reveal their bluffs and performance anxiety. This is why, very often, investigators will work in tandem. When one take or team isn’t getting results, another team with a different approach takes its place. This is where the term ‘good cop/bad cop’ came about!
The Truth about Body Language and Lies
With training, law enforcement officials, especially those in the CIA and FBI, and those that deal with drug rings and gangs, have learned something better than just reading the accepted and obvious forms of body language. They have taken it a step further, learning to analyze micro-expressions, even ones that disappear as soon as they have made their appearance. These ‘micro-expressions’ can be gone before one even registers them, but they are there, visible to the trained eye.
Body language isn’t, therefore, always a loud expression of the nonverbal. Sometimes it is a fleeting glance, the subtlest twitch of the eye, a tap of the finger, or even the beginnings of a smirk.
What this tells us is that while there is no universal reveal for deceit, the cues are always there, lurking just behind the words. These cues can be micro or macro, but that they exist is unquestionable.
It takes a trained professional, though, to see the sub-conscious cues being offered up by a suspect. And where the words might deceive, it is obvious that body language will always tell the truth, provided you know how to read it!
References
Brian D. Fitch Ph.D., The Truth About Lying: What Investigators Need To Know, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (06/10/2014)
Alex Lickerman M.D., Truth In Body Language, Psychology Today (26 May, 2013)