When using open and honest body language, the honest person will tend to: Turn their body and point their feet toward you. Lean forward with casual interest. Shift posture fluently without nervous tics.
Itching and fidgeting: Rocking the body back and forth, cocking the head to the side or shuffling the feet can also be signs of deception, says Glass, who completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA focusing on Psychology and Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication.
Body language red flags are verbal or nonverbal signals that show an incongruence where we should dig deeper. They don't always mean that someone is guilty or showing a negative emotion; however, they may be good indicators in some cases.
Tilting the head to the side shows again that you are listening attentively and that you are considering what they say with respect, whether you agree or disagree with them. Nodding and tilting the head during conversations are positive and respectful gestures that indicate approachability and openness.
Among the behaviors that indicate negative body language are: poor stance, avoiding eye contact, creating barriers, being clumsy with objects, inappropriate spacing, sweating, frowning, and overusing gestures. Each gesture communicates a different feeling.
Keep an eye out for rapid blinking
"A person will ordinarily blink about five or six times a minute, or once every 10 or 12 seconds," Bouton says. "When stressed — for instance, when someone knows he's lying — he may blink five or six times in rapid succession."
Tightened jaw and forehead
Liars also tend to tense up when they're not being truthful, and this can include tightening the jaw and forehead. Both are connected to the "mental effort and stress" associated with telling a lie, according to Wenner.
When people lie and they are confronted with evidence that contradicts those lies, they may change their story or deny the truth altogether. They may also try to manipulate others to maintain their false story. Blaming others for their lies. They may try to deflect blame or shift responsibility onto others.
Honesty or truthfulness is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct (earnestness), along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc.
Saying your opinion but in a kind and thoughtful way. Telling on someone only when necessary. Acting in a way that others can trust. Doing what's right, regardless of who's around.
The direction of their eyes: A 2012 study published in Plos One debunked the myth people look to the left when lying. A study by the University of Michigan found when participants lied, they maintained eye contact 70% of the time.
Looking to the right:
This is because we tend to look to the right when we are imagining things, but towards the left when we are remembering. However, it is also thought that looking to the right and downwards suggests self-doubt, while looking to the right and up indicates that a person is telling untruths.
There is a developmental progression to lying. At the first level, the child wants to achieve some goal or reward by saying something that she knows or believes to be false. Her intention may be to affect the listener's behavior — to avoid punishment or receive a reward, for example.
Their Voice Pitch Changes
More specifically, people's voices tend to rise in pitch when they are lying compared to when they are telling the truth. In these cases, a person might be feeling anxious that they could get caught in a lie. And, this heightened state might make their voice sound strained.
When people are confident, they tend to stand up straight, they have open postures, and they may open their arms and really use the space in which they are standing. When people have low confidence, they may tend to cross their arms, sit in a hunch, cross their legs, fiddle or keep their eyes down.
Body Language that Signals Weakness and Negativity:
Slumping. Making yourself small. Touching your face or neck. Folding your arms.