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Here's how to tell if someone is lying...

There’s a lot of people out there who lie and cheat – here’s how to spot them.

LIES1 Paul Ekman Group Paul Ekman Group

ONE THING THE Ashley Madison hack has underscored: there’s an awful lot of people who lie and cheat in the world, or at least who want to.

For those of us that aren’t in that camp, lying can be one of the most confusing, least understood parts of human nature.

The Ashley Madison incident prompted lying expert Paul Ekman, Ph.D. to send us a list of the 8 myths about lying.

Ekman is famous for his research on lying. The television series ‘Lie to Me’, which ran for three seasons from 2009 to 2011 was based on his work. He was also a consultant for the movie “Inside Out” and has been hired by everyone from homeland security to politicians.

He’s also put together a bunch of online self-paced training classes to teach people how to ”read” others.

Think you can spot a lie? How about detecting other emotions?

We’ve got a test for you below.

The 8 biggest myths about lying, by Dr. Paul Ekman:

Myth #1 – Everyone lies. Not so. Not about serious matters, not about lies which if caught could result in the end of a relationship, employment, freedom, large sums of money or life itself. Those are what I call high stake lies; they are the lies that the police and the FBI and insecure spouses are trying to catch. They are the lies of the criminal, the terrorist, the philanderer, the embezzler, and what the cops call ‘bad guys.’

Myth #2 – No one lies. Hardly. Nearly everyone tells low stake lies. Politeness, for example, or praising the host for a dull dinner and conversation, flattery, and so forth. No one really expects to be told the truth in those situations.

Myth #3 – Women can spot lies better than men. No they can’t; most people are terrible lie catchers, fooled by high stake lies again and again. Often they want to believe the liar. Do you want to find out your lover is unfaithful, your children are using hard drugs, the person you recommended for the job is embezzling? These are hard truths to accept, so the target of the lie often cooperates in being misled because the truth is too painful.

Myth #4 – Psychopaths are perfect liars. Psychopaths are no more skillful at lying than anyone else, but they are so charming we want to believe them, and we do.

Myth #5 – Looking up and to the left is a sign of lying. The research shows that which way you look before answering a question is unrelated to whether you are lying.

Myth #6 – Micro facial expressions are proof of lying. Fleeting facial expressions do reveal an emotion that is being concealed, and that is a kind of lie, but innocents under suspicion may conceal their fear, or anger about being suspected. You need to find out why they are concealing their emotions in order to judge whether it is sign they are guilty of the offense you are investigating.

lies2 Robert de Niro puts Ben Stiller through a lie detector test in Meet The Parents (1999)

Myth #7 –The polygraph is a reliable lie detector. Scientists have not discovered a silver bullet, which works on everyone, to betray a lie. The polygraph, the so-called lie detector, is just a little bit better than chance. Yet it does have its use in a criminal investigation — if only one of the suspects fails the test, he or she is the first one to investigate, bearing in mind that this suspect may be the most nervous or worried about not being believed, though innocent.

Myth #8 - It’s hard to spot a lie from how people behave. There are what I like to call “hot spots” which indicate you are not getting the full story. If you really do want to catch a liar there are nearly thirty different hot spots to pay attention to.

Micro facial expressions and gestural slips are the two most important ones, but there are many more. For example, a slight shrug, usually of one shoulder, coinciding with a verbal statement of confidence is an example of a “hot spot” revealed in a gestural slip. Something is awry. Another is a slight head shake no, only very slight, when saying “yes.”

 Now, for the test …

Which picture of Julie Roberts indicates that she’s lying and which one indicates she’s being genuine?

julia Paul Ekman Group Paul Ekman Group

Answer:  Fake smile on the left, real one on the right.

Real smiles include “smiling with your eyes,” indicated by the narrowing of the eyes and, often, crows feet.

Which emotion is this guy expressing?

“It doesn’t matter what language you speak, where you live, what you do for a living — the facial expressions you show for anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, contempt and happiness will be the same. You share these expressions with all human beings, and many of them with the great apes,” says Dr. Ekman.

So, what’s the guy feeling in each picture?

LIES1 Paul Ekman Group Paul Ekman Group

Answer: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise.

And here’s an analysis of each expression taken from the TV show “Lie to Me.”

lies4

Click here to view a larger image

Read: Take a look around the Miami mansion LeBron James just sold for €12m

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    Mute Tweed Cap
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:13 PM

    It’s very easy to spot when Enda Kenny is lying….his lips start move

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    Mute fuve
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:22 PM

    She forgot the

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    Mute Dalian Martin
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:49 PM
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    Mute Dalian Martin
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:51 PM

    “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

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    Mute Ken Moy
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    Sep 6th 2015, 6:20 PM

    Got goosebumps from that video, two of my favourite soundtracks from Brad Fiedel and John Murphy helped. Powerful video nice one for sharing.

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    Mute Barry Humphreys
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:07 PM

    Thought I’d get in first, just watch the government.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:32 PM

    I used to love Lie to Me.

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    Mute The Tazer
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:53 PM

    Your lying to me!!

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 7th 2015, 12:36 PM

    Many people lie to themselves a lot these days, lol.

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:10 PM

    In Ireland, the custom is to wait until a journalist publishes a quote.

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    Mute Al Ca
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:16 PM

    It’s easy to spot some people who lie a lot….for instance, everytime Enda’s lips move……

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    Mute Denise Friary
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:34 PM

    How do you know if Pat Rabbite is telling lies…His lips are moving.

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    Mute Tap Solny
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:51 PM

    ‘I was not in the IRA’ – does anybody believe this quote?

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    Mute Seamus Banna
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:57 PM

    Fair enough Pat. I believe you weren’t in the IRA.

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    Mute Tap Solny
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    Sep 6th 2015, 4:08 PM

    I appreciate your support Séamus.

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    Mute Vote Left Ireland
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:20 PM

    Check if there still a member of the irish Labour party?

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    Mute Anto Harris
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    Sep 6th 2015, 4:45 PM

    Any clown who believes the word of the Media/Politican/ Church/ does not know a liar.

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    Mute Shawn Rahoon
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:16 PM

    I always tell lies!

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    Mute Anthony P
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    Sep 6th 2015, 3:21 PM

    No you don’t

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    Mute Shawn Rahoon
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    Sep 6th 2015, 4:06 PM

    reverse psychology!

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    Mute Shaun Mcloughlin
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    Sep 6th 2015, 6:15 PM

    I’d loved to have joined the police but lies not a strong point

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 7th 2015, 12:12 PM

    Where is shock in that Lie to me… lol
    Shock at the bull from this government…
    Next week how to tell if a politician is lying ha ha…

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 7th 2015, 12:09 PM

    Myth #4 – Psychopaths are perfect liars.
    Did you mean sociopaths?

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Sep 7th 2015, 12:13 PM

    So much is left out…

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