Would we lie to you?
Well, according to a Harvard psychologist, it’s not all that hard to tell. Amy Cuddy has written a book entitled Presence in which she explains the process we go through when we lie.
Cuddy explains that the conflict in our minds between what we know to be true and what we’re actually saying ends up impacting the way we communicate.
“We’re telling one story while suppressing another, and if that’s not complicated enough, most of us are experiencing psychological guilt about doing this, which we’re also trying suppress,” she says.
“We just don’t have the brainpower to manage it all without letting something go — without ‘leaking’.”
These leaks often take the form of differences between the way somebody is speaking and the way they are acting. For example, if somebody is nodding their head while saying ‘No’ or shaking their head while saying ‘Yes’, this could be a sign.
Other leaks could also take the form of a happy tone of voice paired with a pained facial expression.
Cuddy argues that people are often fooled by the words being said, not paying close enough attention to body language and tone. She cites a study by Nancy Etcoff who found that people with language-processing disorders are better at spotting lies because they spend less time focusing on words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GzWiXCHLek
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