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Mind

Is someone lying to you? A lack of detail may give them away

A lack of detail may be the best indication that someone is lying to you, according to an investigation that found this single measure was more accurate at identifying falsehoods than considering multiple factors

By Carissa Wong

20 March 2023

Woman looking at man

Does maintaining eye contact mean someone is less likely to be lying?

Anna Tolipova/Alamy

An investigation into the best way to identify lies has found that focusing on the level of detail in what people say, while ignoring all other cues, is the most successful method – but if liars know that, they might more easily deceive you.

People trained to detect lies often rely on multiple cues, such as eye contact, length of responses and the details in what people say, but studies have shown that assessing a wide range of behavioural information …

Article amended on 21 March 2023

We corrected the method of rating the level of detail in the final experiment

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