Some people may get angry when they are caught lying, due to the feeling of being exposed. When someone is caught in a lie, their initial reaction may be one of anger and embarrassment. This feeling can arise from the sense of being exposed to something that was meant to remain hidden.
If they feel that someone closes in on their lies and raises questions, liars tend to get angry and defensive. Even if no one is outright accusing them, they have an overblown reaction due to their fear of being caught. It also acts as a distraction and helps take the spotlight off their lies.
Fear microexpressions: Microexpressions are brief, involuntary facial expressions that give away a person's true emotions. Liars are often afraid of being caught, so they may express fear through small movements, like raising their eyebrows or wrinkling their forehead.
"When a liar becomes hostile or defensive, he is attempting to turn the tables on you," says Glass. The liar will get hostile because he is angry that you've discovered his lies, which may result in a lot of pointing.
Even though this doesn't apply to everyone, “If you try to confront them with evidence and proof of the facts, they may be outraged, insulted, and attack you verbally. They may even badmouth you to others and avoid you.”
Guilt is most likely when the liar shares values and respects the target of the lie. It is much harder to lie or cheat someone who has acted fairly. But if the wages are too low, the spouse cold and inconsiderate, the parent too strict – the liar may feel entitled to cheat, and feel no guilt about doing so.
This behavior can be part of a personality disorder such as antisocial, narcissistic, and histrionic. Other conditions, such as borderline personality disorder, may also lead to frequent lies, but these aren't considered pathological. Also, some people simply lie pathologically but have no other conditions.
Using non-specific language, generalized phrases and sweeping statements are common tactics for liars, who are trying to avoid giving hard facts and information.
Some cheaters get angry when confronted.
In fact, people who are being unfaithful to their partners often act unusually irritable or look for excuses to pick fights, even when you're not directly confronting them about what's going on.
An inability to bear the truth
Attorney Rebecca Zung writes about what happens when you catch a narcissist in a lie. They will either deny, deflect, devalue, and/or dismiss you.
Liars hedge their statements.
“As far as I recall…” “If you really think about it…” “What I remember is…” Hedged statements aren't an absolute indicator of deception, but an overuse of such qualifying phrases certainly should raise suspicion that a person isn't being totally up front with what he or she knows.
A person who lies is so scared of being caught that every defense mechanism kicks in when they're confronted about it. If you confront them with something that's bothering you, and they suddenly become too defensive, it means they're hiding something and you've been lied to.
When people lie, their brains have to work harder to come up with the falsehood. This increased mental effort can lead to physical manifestations, like the cluster of three different cues. For example, a person may touch their nose, then their neck, and then their face. Or, they may scratch their head, ear, and chin.
For many lies, the reasons are complicated. Sometimes it's to protect the liar from being punished, or to protect someone else from punishment. The lie might be to avoid being embarrassed, to hide an awkward situation, or to simply have others think better of the person telling the fib.
Many people who cheat on their partners use secret messaging apps, like Signal, which allow them to chat with others discreetly. Depending on the cheating your partner is engaging in, whether sexual, emotional, or otherwise, there are different apps they might use to cheat or hide their behavior.
Common reactions include surprise and disbelief, denial of the accusation, anger and frustration, a desire to prove their innocence, and a willingness to cooperate with any efforts to investigate the situation.
A cheating partner can exhibit angry, defensive behavior if they feel guilty about committing an infidelity, which can sometimes cause them to overreact even to seemingly small questions.
“Someone who is overly passive or lacks judgment and experience is likely to fall prey to liars. The naïve personality type sees the world through simple lenses and believes others do the same,” Backe explains. “This means that then a lie is thrown their way, they often don't see it coming.”
When it comes to detecting lies, people often focus on body language “tells,” or subtle physical and behavioral signs that reveal deception. For example, shrugging, lack of expression, a bored posture, and grooming behaviors such as playing with hair or pressing fingers to lips can give away a person who is lying.
Ironically, you might know how to tell if someone is lying by their overuse of the buzzword “honest.” They might say “I'm being totally honest with you” or “honestly, I just went home after work and went to sleep.”
A narcissistic liar is a person who lies to get what they want. They are often charming and persuasive. But their primary goal is always self-promotion. They want to present themselves in a certain light and believe they can get away with it.
What mental illness causes pathological lying? Pathological liar signs can be symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
However, of the most common motives for telling lies, avoiding punishment is the primary motivator for both children and adults. Other typical reasons include protecting ourselves or others from harm, maintaining privacy, and avoiding embarrassment, to name a few.