Deceptive Body Language

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Deceptive Body Language

Do you wish there was an accurate way to know if someone is telling the truth? Federal Officers and other investigative agencies like CIA often track and arrest suspects by largely relying on their behavior. General public have also in many occasions used body language to tell whether one lies. The main argument has always been based on the body language ranging from ones’ lips, to tenses of eyelids and the eyebrows especially when am about to make a point. The body language can build deception because its performance may lead to misinterpretation or incomplete delivery of information to the concerned parties. The main points of discussion include concerns of a deceptive language, signs of deception, reason for deception and the ways of controlling body language in the instances of deception.

Body language has been widely applied across the globe. It is a better topic for this study since its occurs in daily lives in the course of interpersonal communication. During these conversations, one may be honest or sometimes lie. The lies can easily be detected through body language when the listener is keenly observing use of words when expressing a point. Anxiety can be a sign of deceptive body language. A deceptive person may react by sending gestures of tension which could be inform of sweeting or changes in tonal variation or speed (Borgomaneri, Gazzola, & Avenanti, 2015). In addition, repeat of words and phrases is part of body language that can build a serious deception when misinterpreted. This happens because it is a common trend that when one repeats words frequently they tries to validate the lies in their mind to convince themselves and the people they are lying to (Beattie, 2016). In the process, the person may also cover the mouth to avoid revealing the truth especially when engaging their seniors.

Understanding the signs of deception makes it interesting for one to enquire about the reasons for deception. People lie for different reasons. For instance, one may lie to persuade another individual to say or do something (McColl, & Nejat, 2014). Besides, deception is also done to avoid detection. This is a more self-oriented approach where the sole goal is to get something or avoid answering some questions (McColl, & Nejat, 2014). Due to these reasons, deceptive body language has widely been used across the world. It is a very clever of controlling body movements.

The use of deceptive body language can further be enhanced by intelligent control of the body parts. An individual may decide to use friendly body gestures to hide his deceptive motives (Balko, & Koppl, 2013). One may use friendly body language, which could involve the use of forced smiles, jerky movements and oscillation between the open body language and defensive body language (Comer & Stephens, 2017). Similarly, holding body still may be done to avoid telltale signals. For example, a person may hold his arms or put them in pocket to emphasize something by their voice (Comer & Stephens, 2017). Controlling body language can thus significantly promote deception.

In conclusion, to understand how body language can build deception, three critical components to evaluate include signs of body language, reasons for deception and the control activities an individual can put in place while communicating. Body language is an important element for analyzing and detecting an individual’s deception because its performance may lead to misinterpretation or incomplete delivery of information to the concerned parties. It is important to take a keen interest to learn of the signs, reasons and methods of controlling body language for an intelligent listener to easily recognize lies.

References

Balko, R., & Koppl, R. (2013). Crime Scene Training., Does Body Language Reveal Deception 14(6) 3-11.

Beattie, G. (2016). Rethinking body language: How hand movements reveal hidden thoughts. Psychology Press.

Borgomaneri, S., Gazzola, V., & Avenanti, A. (2015). Transcranial magnetic stimulation reveals two functionally distinct stages of motor cortex involvement during perception of emotional body language. Brain Structure and Function, 220(5), 2765-2781.

Comer, M. J., & Stephens, T. E. (2017). Deception at work: investigating and countering lies and fraud strategies. Routledge.

McColl, D., & Nejat, G. (2014). Recognizing emotional body language displayed by a human- like social robot. International Journal of Social Robotics, 6(2), 261-280.