Face Touch

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Is Someone Lying if They Touch Their Face

This week I answered the question that Pauline submitted through this website: “I have been led to understand that when someone is lying they touch their face. Is this true and how do I decipher what is a normal touch of your face vs a ‘lying’ touch?”

Lie detection is a very in-depth subject and cannot be presented well in two minutes but let me give you a few hints. Firstly, keep in mind that the first thing we do in the lie detection process is to observe what someone looks like when they’re telling the truth. This is called baselining. Once you have a baseline for someone, you look for changes in their baseline (you look for clusters of red flags) which may indicate that they’re lying.

Rather than looking for truths and lies (which requires a lot of training), I suggest that you look for comfort and discomfort.

Touching Your Face Can Be a Sign of Discomfort but Not Always a Sign of Lying

When people block their face it’s often a sign that they are uncomfortable. Keep in mind that they might be telling the truth and are uncomfortable because they just revealed something about themselves. They could also be feeling uncomfortable because they just lied.

Examples of face blocking include nose touching*, mouth touching, and rapid blinking.

* Researchers have determined that there is a special kind of tissue in our noses that swells slightly when we lie. You can’t see the swollen tissue, but it can make your nose itch.

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