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.
Study the eyes
Researchers say no. Science shows that liars do not avoid eye contact any more frequently than those telling the truth. The key thing to look for in eye movement is deviation from their baseline.
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.
Look for flared nostrils, lip biting, rapid blinking or sweating. These changes in facial activity signify an increase in brain activity as a lie begins. Some people will get a slight flush to their face when they are lying, so look for blushed cheeks as anxiety may set in.
Deception can be found in the strangest of ways, some of which involve fidgeting and itching. “The head will be retracted or jerked back, bowed down, or cocked or tilted to the side,” behavioral analyst and The Body Language of Liars author Dr. Lillian Glass previously wrote.
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.
Liars are often afraid of being caught, so they may express fear through small movements, like raising their eyebrows or wrinkling their forehead.
Possible sign
Repeating a question before answering it. Speaking in fragments or using nonsensical language. Grooming behaviors such as a person playing with their hair, touching their head, or pressing their fingers to their lips. A lack of eye contact (or forced eye contact)
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.
A face resembling a happy expression, with upturned eyebrows and upward curving mouth, is likely to be seen as trustworthy while one resembling an angry expression, with downturned eyebrows, likely to be seen as untrustworthy.
There is a popular belief that liars tend to avoid eye contact, as they feel guilty or nervous about their deception. However, this is not always true, as some liars may actually maintain more eye contact than usual, as they try to appear confident or convincing.
EYE DIRECTION/EYE DART - If you can pick up on a person's normal eye direction when they are being honest you might pick up on the clue that they might be lying if their eyes suddenly swing in the opposite direction for one of their answers.
Body language can change when you're trying to hide something. Some people tend to cover up their bodies because they feel vulnerable. For example, they might cross their arms over their midsection. They might physically try to make themselves appear smaller.
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.
To raise eyebrows means to cause other people to react with surprise or mild disapproval. To raise an/your eyebrow means to move your eyebrows up in a way that shows surprise or mild disapproval. Both of these phrases are often used figuratively. The following example sentences show how each phrased is used.
Brow Ptosis
As people age, the eyebrow tissue slowly droops down onto the eyes. If the brow falls well below the brow bone, it can cause visual impairment. Droopy brows can give a person a tired, sad, or angry look.
Apparently, the "eyebrow flash" is a reliable signal of sexual attraction. Reader's Digest suggests the gesture, typified by a fleeting raise of the brows upon eye contact, is "over and done within one fifth of a second". The publication claims if the gesture is reciprocated, it means there's a mutual attraction.
Often a person feeling guilt will instinctively hold his head with one or even both hands. The hands often are covering the eyes, because he would rather not see other people while feeling guilt. The posture here is similar to a “woe is me” type of feeling. It is like the person is trying to ask “What have I done?”
If you see someone suddenly make a head movement when you ask them a direct question, they may be lying to you about something. "The head will be retracted or jerked back, bowed down, or cocked or tilted to the side," said Glass. This will often happen right before the person is expected to respond to a question.
Psychological folklore tells us that it is. Studies on what people believe about lying and deceit identify a number of non-verbal cues associated with lying (Vrij, 2000, 2008; The Global Deception Research Team, 2006)—gaze avoidance, fidgeting, restless foot and leg movements, frequent body posture changes.
Deception cues indicate that deception may be occurring, without indicating the nature of the information that is being concealed. Almost all of the cues that have been reported in the literature are deception cues.