People Whose Brains Are Built-In Lie Detectors Almost Always Notice 10 Specific Things About You
Eduardo Rgz | ShutterstockFor similar reasons to someone’s capacity for empathy or social intelligence, people whose brains are built-in lie detectors almost always notice specific things about people when they’re lying. They’re tapped into a sense of social energy that words and conversations alone can’t conceptualize.
They notice body language, malicious intentions, and deceit through certain red flags, but they also have an intuitive sense when someone’s not being honest with them. They trust their own gut instincts and are rarely wrong when they call someone out on their behavior once they have evidence to support their intuition.
People whose brains are built-in lie detectors almost always notice 10 specific things about you
1. Pausing before responding
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While pausing before responding can often help us not to immediately react or say something we don’t mean, someone who’s hyper-attuned to noticing dishonesty may note when someone’s actually using space to get their story straight.
Pausing before responding is often associated with perceptions of dishonesty in conversations, whether someone’s actually lying or not. However, a person with a built-in lie detector in their mind knows the difference between intentionality and deceit quickly.
2. Inconsistencies in a story or narrative
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Even if the average person can easily overlook someone’s inconsistencies in a story, justifying it with a million excuses, a person who’s tapped into social energy can’t ignore them. Whether it’s doing something different than what they promised or adding a detail of a story that doesn’t make sense, they immediately notice red flags when they’re confused.
They may even notice your fatigue and exhaustion from trying to keep up with one narrative, considering that dishonesty takes a lot more emotional effort than telling the truth does.
3. Coming across as too polished or perfect
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Even though most of us adopt a strange mentality that being perfect without flaws improves our social perception, most of the time, removing what makes us uniquely human from our interactions does the opposite. The same is true when it comes to trustworthiness. The fewer imperfections and humanity we see, the more likely we are to deem someone untrustworthy.
The same is even true online. If someone’s text messages are too polished or their emails are too perfect, we tend to trust them a lot less. So, while sometimes a person’s perfectionism can be subtle, someone with a great internal lie detection mind can instantly notice when they’re hiding something.
4. Not seeming guilty or apologetic
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According to a study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, guilt proneness is associated with trustworthiness. In other words, when we see someone with an apologetic aura or a tendency to take on guilt in social situations, we subconsciously believe that they’re more trustworthy than someone who’s more defensive and cold.
People who can immediately tell when they’re being lied to may not always give a guilty person the benefit of the doubt, but when they do receive an apology or notice someone’s genuine ability to take accountability, they’re more likely to trust. However, when someone is completely avoiding apologies and justifying their behavior, it’s less easy to give them grace.
5. Using fewer hand gestures
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Most of the body language signals that we assume to be associated with lying, like looking to the left or being overly fidgety, aren’t actually accurate markers of dishonesty. However, there are some hidden nonverbal cues that people who are accurate lie detectors do still notice.
For example, people who are lying often use fewer hand motions and gestures than someone telling the truth. In many ways, that feeds into our perception of perfectionism and trustworthiness. When someone’s communication feels sterile and inauthentic, it’s often a sign of dishonesty or deceit in some way.
6. Over-explaining
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According to psychotherapist Kaytee Gillis, over-explaining is often a defense mechanism and stress response in conversations, especially when someone doesn’t feel secure or valued in a social interaction. Whether it’s prompted by insecurity or the effort it takes to cover up a lie, it’s one of the first verbal confirmations that someone’s not telling the truth to a person with a built-in lie detector brain.
It’s ironic that this can be a red flag for people, because it is often associated with deceit, but people who over-explain may be telling the truth, and simply worried that they’re not being heard or understood. Especially for people who need constant approval and external validation, over-explaining may be second nature.
7. Avoiding eye contact
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According to a study from Consciousness and Cognition, eye contact often tends to reduce lying, as it creates an intentional kind of space and connection that’s difficult to maintain while being dishonest. So, if someone notices a partner or friend constantly dodging eye contact and busying themselves with a phone to avoid their gaze, it could be a red flag that they’re being deceitful.
Of course, all kinds of things can prompt this nonverbal behavior, including introversion, social anxiety, and even stress. However, when someone knows you and understands your typical body language, it’s much easier for them to stop when you’re hiding something.
8. Ignoring others in group settings
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Distancing from someone you’re actively lying to is somewhat of a subconscious behavior, usually because our minds know that it takes more effort to lie to someone’s face than it does to ignore them completely.
So, even without a conversation, people who notice deceit instantly can’t help but recognize someone’s avoidance. Especially if they have every single reason in the world to be around each other or to have a conversation to clear the air, that avoidance is a red flag.
9. Using a higher-pitched voice
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According to a study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, deception is often associated with subtle verbal cues like using a higher tone of voice than normal. Even if the average person doesn’t realize it, even the one doing it, someone with a brain wired to read people’s energies and intentions does immediately.
Especially if this higher tone of voice is associated with over-explaining or general nervousness, it’s easy to tell when they’re not being truthful and are worried about being called out for lying.
10. Being vague
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If someone asks a “yes” or “no” question and the person they’re talking to can’t give a straight answer, most people make the assumption that they’re hiding something. If being vague helps someone keep their story straight or avoid slipping up, they’re always going to take a step back from conversations, even if it comes at the expense of healthy connection and vulnerability.
For some reason, it feels like a defensive strategy, where withholding information can be more easily justified than lying straight to someone’s face. However, if you’ve been in this situation with a friend or loved one, you know that lying by omission is usually just as harmful, if not more so, in the moment.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
