The face overturned the true feelings of the liar

How do we know who is lying, who? A new study conducted at the Stephen Porter psychological laboratory at Dalhousie University shows that the face will reveal the true feelings of a liar but not in the same way.

An urgent need to help find the missing wife, Michael White cried and sobbed. 'My wife is a good person, she doesn't hurt anyone. If someone sees her, or sees this, just stay there and we'll go look for her , 'said the husband with tears in his eyes as he sat on the sofa in the living room at the Edmonton house after the man Liana White's pregnant wife disappeared in July 2005. Canadians, though unable to help, were also moved by the plea and the situation of the miserable man.

Three days later, he showed some anger when talking to reporters while in distress. He said he was very upset with the police investigation so he would go find his wife himself. He led a group of searchers to come straight to the body of his wife in a water trench on the outskirts of the city. Immediately he was arrested by the police. He lied for a long time. Michael White is accused and sentenced to a second-degree murder and humiliating the body.

Fellows Leanne ten Brinke showed two different faces.(Photo: Danny Abriel)

How do we know who is lying, who? A new study conducted at the Stephen Porter psychological laboratory at Dalhousie University shows that the face will reveal the true feelings of a liar but not in the same way . But the sign is not the stubborn face, the eyebrows sweating or the nose extending like Pinocchio that a lie detector finds.

Instead, other factors that appear on the face of the liar will disintegrate them, real thoughts will appear on the face of the liar. When Porter and his team analyzed White's pleas bit by bit, they discovered traces of anger as well as indignation on their faces, but most supporters didn't realize it. .

Leanne ten Brinke, a research associate in research collaboration psychology, said: 'Its face and muscular system are quite complex - much more complex than any part of the body part. out. There are muscles on our faces that can't be controlled . Those muscles will not work without true emotions'.

Dr. Porter added: 'If someone is lying about something that has serious consequences, such as receiving life imprisonment, for example, then a lie will be erased anyway. Unlike body language, we have no control or complete control over what happens on the face. This study is a demonstration of the first detailed experience of secrets revealed when people wear a fake face, restrain or fake different emotions'.

The article is based on a study titled 'Understanding the implication: identifying fake emotions or being hidden by facial expressions' is published in the May issue of Psychological Science. This study is the first comprehensive study of four mysterious emotional patterns revealed on our faces: happy, sad, angry, and frightened. They also conducted a hypothesis derived from Charles Darwin in 1872 that there are specific reflections on the face that cannot be formed if only we want to. Not only that, the expression on his face may even unknowingly show his true feelings.

Darwin wrote in his book 'Expressing emotions in humans and animals' that: ' When a man is angry at a moderate level or even angry, he can 'lower his upper body', then his muscles on his face are the most stubborn, refusing to listen to his wishes and sometimes they only turn a fleeting feeling '.

During the study, Dr. Porter and Ms. Brinke chose adult participants and allowed them to observe images of expressing feelings of pleasure (play with a puppy) to be frightened ( close-up image of a rabid dog opening his mouth), disgusting feeling (an ugly hand). Participants are also instructed to express fake emotions or fake emotions. For example, they will be directed to laugh when looking at ugly handwriting images. Their response was recorded for other voluntary observers to monitor and evaluate while these people did not see equivalent images. 697 scene clips are analyzed in detail for each scene with over 100,000 scenes.

As a result, no participant can perfectly mimic emotions . Improper gestures - like a silly smile or a quick blink of an eye when expressing a sad face - are easy to appear when participants try to deceive. Some types of emotions are harder to fake than others: pretending to be funny is easier than forging a sense of fear or disgust.

Researchers can clearly see a very small gesture, real emotions that flash only within 1/5 to 1/25 of a second on the face of the instructor instructed to lie.

Miss Brinke said: 'The expression of the face seems to break the artificialness that makes other emotions show on the face, no matter how quickly. When we see facial expressions like this in someone, we have to probe with questions to find out why he has such thoughts. '

The authors of the study emphasize that most contradictory emotional states flashed mainly in both the upper and lower parts. In addition, the meaningless activity of muscle is sometimes also in real emotion. That means wanting to find out exactly can only be based on appropriate questions. Identifying liars is a job that requires sophistication and also a skill that most people are poor - especially those who are interested in holding liars.

Dr. Porter said: 'This study has all kinds of potential applications, from everyday life to environments such as police department questioning, airport security or courtroom trials. . Everybody tries to know who is the truth, who lies. And if we lie, we all feel hurt. '

The next step of the research will be to understand the expression on the faces of liars like Michael White, who made up the story and the pleading is well known. Ms. Brinke and Dr. Porter collected and analyzed over 60 tapes from daily life and bets in Canada, the United States, England and Australia.

Ms. ten Brinke explained that: 'The next study aims to understand and give investigators and police a more objective view of possible lies in such cases'.

It seems that only the face has said it all.