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The first thing to make clear is that body language and facial expressions are good indicators of when a person is lying but the indicators are not foolproof. They will give you a "heads up" that something is not quite right about what the person is saying but he or she may not be actually lying to you. To detect lying, what you watch for in body language and facial expressions are signs of stress. When a normal person (not psychotic) is lying they do so with discomfort and the stress shows up in their posture, movements, and facial expressions in most cases. However, their stress may not show up if the person really wishes the facts were as described or they can rationalize that their story really should be as described. But in most cases a lying person will act and move in a slightly different way from when they are telling the truth.
Here is what to watch for when a person is lying to you when face-to-face:
Body and face become stiffer and arms move less but may touch nose or behind ear.
Face and hands becomes a bit paler as blood is withheld from extremities. (A sign of high stress.)
Nostrils open wider ("flare").
Breathing deeper and maybe audible.
Lips become thinner and tighter.
Shoulders pulled up and elbows pulled in to sides more. Body takes up less space.
Forehead tightens up a little in area between eye brows.
Eye contact breaks away from you and may squint eyes or close them.
Heart rate increases.
Hand palms turned down or closed, and not showing to you.
Keep in mind that periodically everyone tells "little fibs". That is what we call lying when it serves us. In many cases we lie to protect a person's feelings, such as: "You look so much thinner since you cut down to only 3 hamburgers a week". We also lie periodically to avoid doing something we don't want to do, such as: "I can't go shopping with you because I have to wait for a phone call." We also lie to increase our importance, such as: "I could have won the award but I didn't try so the little girl could win".
Protective lie which shields liar from danger.
Heroic lie that protects someone else from danger.
Playful lie that enhances the story.
Ego lie that prevents embarrassment.
Gainful lie that enriches the liar.
Malicious lie that hurts someone.
Lying in the flirting and dating game appears frequently. It happens often because telling the truth may block the liar from getting what he or she wants. Also lies are used to elevate the liar’s status, or so it is hoped, such as: "My company has increased profits 500% since I took over as CEO". Lying may also be used to discourage competition, such as when a woman says to her female friend interested in her boyfriend: "My boyfriend is impotent, snores, and really is a slob so I just go with him to help him".
Another thing to watch for to detect lying is a sudden change in movements. The liar tends to shut down and tries to maintain control of the situation and in so doing becomes quieter and stops normal body movements until you have accepted the lie. A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. This heighten tension may cause the eyes to increase blink rate also. Any spoken words during and immediately after the lie will come harder and there may be more than normal mispronunciations and stutters. The liar is more defensive than usual and also may place objects (cups, keys, pencils, chairs etc.) between self and others.
Since the tension is high in the liar they need some self-comforting so they stroke their hair and touch their face more frequently and harder than normally. Scratching and rubbing their nose is common in liars but don't accuse all nose-rubbers of being liars! The best overall liar detection clue is a sudden change in posture and movements from the normal patterns for a short time until you have accepted what is said. If you believe someone is lying, change the subject quickly and watch their reactions. A liar will follow along willingly and become more relaxed. The guilty wants the subject changed but an innocent person may be confused by the sudden change and will want to go back to the previous subject.