Mar
14
Lying Eyes
Filed Under Leadership, fun, Emotional intelligence
As part of the third and final session of the Emotional Intelligence programme at Napier University in Edinburgh yesterday we did an exercise on how to tell if someone is lying.
I had long believed that when telling a lie a person will leak with their body language and indeed that does play a part though maybe not in such a clear cut way as maybe I had understood. For example I had read that if someone touches their nose or ear when they are talking they may be lying. I have watched sportsmen being interviewed after a game where their team has not done well and noticed how often they do that. But I guess that might also be because they are uncomfortable and/or embarrassed too.
Little kids tend to tell elaborate stories when they are lying. It turns out that adults sometimes do that too in the belief that the more detail in the story they are spinning the less likely the lie will be noticed. As we were learning about emotional intelligence Mike, our leader, told us to ask questions about how they felt at the time and if they answer with more details about things - the colour of the coat they were wearing, the number of the bus that went by - be deeply suspicious!
This was a fun session leading us on to thinking about observing facial expressions - and specifically the eyes. Mike flashed 36 pairs of eyes( only the eyes - no other part of the face) - on the screen and asked us to choose an expression from 4 options. Turns out that my score shows that I am pretty good at reading eyes - so beware if we ever meet face to face!
I told my family about this and it has been suggested I take up poker but I have never been good at card games ( I get bored easily) and don’t like gambling ( I don’t disapprove of gambling per se - it just does nothing for me) so maybe I will give that one a miss.
Why don’t you try reading people’s eyes? A word of warning though - depending on how focussed you are the other person might pick up signals you did not intend!
What are these eyes saying?
Very interesting, Jackie! I’ve actually heard two completely different schools of thought on what the eyes can show - some say that by themselves, they show nothing at all!
Then there’s the “look up and to the left” school that says that indicates a lie… unless they know that and are trying to fool you… etc., etc.
But don’t ask me! I’m afraid I’ve never been too good at spotting lies (although my wife is VERY good at it). As far as I can tell, the eyes in your photo say either, “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!” or “If you don’t get that camera out of my face, I’m going to spit on you!”
Fascinating stuff either way isn’t it? And very interesting interpretation of the eyes in the post!
Jackie
I find this very fascinating, too, Jackie. Have you put your new learning to the test yet?
Hi Robyn
I am probably paying too much attention to people’s eyes at the moment. Thankfully I have been spending most of my time with my loved ones so have not upset anyone yet!