Cluster of deception
While no one deception clue is definitive, when they occur in clusters they can be most telling. A cluster of deception clues involves two or more verbal, vocal, or non-verbal behavioral changes occurring simultaneously.
Types
- verbal
- non-verbal
Verbal clues of deception
FAILURE TO ANSWER
If you ask someone a question and he doesn’t give you what you ask for
reason?
the facts aren’t on his side, and he’s trying to figure out how to deal with that
DENIAL PROBLEMS.
Closely related to the failure to answer is the absence of an explicit denial of something in your question that involves an act of wrongdoing, or has consequences associated with it
Nonspecific denial. If the “no” statement is delivered in a way that’s more of a general focus than a specific expression of denial of the matter at hand (“I didn’t do anything,” “I would never do something like that”), that’s also significant. It’s subtle, but if a person says he didn’t do anything, psychologically he’s letting himself off the hook so he doesn’t have to tell the bald-faced lie, “I didn’t do it.” It’s a nuance that’s easily missed by an untrained ear.
Isolated delivery of denial. If in response to a question about wrongdoing, a person gives you a “no” response, but buries it in a long-winded answer, that’s important. If the percentage of the answer that relates to the denial is relatively small, that’s a bad thing.
RELUCTANCE OR REFUSAL TO ANSWER
Sometimes, we’ll ask a person a question and he’ll say something like, “I’m not sure I’m the right person to talk to.” In some instances, it’s because he doesn’t want to be the right person to talk to—it’s an easy dodge. Or he may express reluctance with a response like, “Gee, I’m not sure I can answer that.”
REPEATING THE QUESTION.
Why might a deceptive person repeat a question? We think of it as buying time, and ultimately that’s the goal.
what’s happening, according to behavioral psychologists, is he’s probably trying to fill in what would otherwise appear to be a very awkward moment of silence.
Silence in response to a question is almost universally perceived as deceptive.
NONANSWER STATEMENTS.
The psychology behind non-answer statements is much the same as that associated with repeating the question—avoiding that awkward silence and buying time to figure out how to respond.
These are things that people say that don’t provide what you ask for:
“That’s a good question.”
“I’m glad you asked that.”
“I knew you were going to ask me that.”
“That’s a legitimate concern.”
Sometimes, these can provide you with useful information. We often hear the non-answer statement, “I knew you were going to ask me that.” Why is that statement made in response to this particular question? Without realizing it, the person may be cluing us in on what he’s thinking or worried about.
INCONSISTENT STATEMENTS.
”It is not without good reason said, that he who has not good memory should never take upon him the trade of lying.” So said Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, who well knew that keeping your story straight when the truth isn’t your ally is a formidable task.
GOING INTO ATTACK MODE.
Being backed into a corner by the facts of a situation can put a lot of strain on a deceptive person, and can compel him to go on the attack. This might take the form of an attempt to impeach your credibility or competence, with questions like,
“How long have you been doing this job?”
“Do you know anything about our organization?”
“Why are you wasting my time with this stuff?”
“Why do you always pick on me?”
“Why don’t you trust me?”
INAPPROPRIATE QUESTIONS.
Some schools of thought suggest that answering a question with a question is deceptive, but we would say that’s not necessarily the case. What concerns us is when we ask a question, and the response is a question that doesn’t directly relate to the question we asked.
OVERLY SPECIFIC ANSWERS.
Deceptive people might be overly specific in two ways, and they’re almost polar opposites.
One way is they will answer a question too technically, or too narrowly.
In addition to being overly specific by limiting the scope of the response, deceptive people might go to the other extreme of over-specificity and inundate you with detailed information in response to your question. Why would they do that? Remember the deceptive strategy of influence that people use to manage your perception of them? That often takes the form of providing you with more information than you asked for in order to create a halo effect.
INAPPROPRIATE LEVEL OF POLITENESS.
We’re certainly not at all suspicious of someone who’s just a nice person. But if, in response to a question, a person suddenly increases the level of nicety, that’s significant. Perhaps the person says, “Yes, ma’am” in that particular response, but at no other time in the interview. Or a compliment might be injected during the response: “That’s a great tie, by the way.” The idea here is that the more we like someone, the more we’re inclined to believe him and to shy away from confrontation. The person is using politeness as a means of promoting his likability.
INAPPROPRIATE LEVEL OF CONCERN.
If the facts are not a person’s ally, he’s put into a hole from which he needs to try to extricate himself. A person in this position doesn’t have much going for him, so he might resort to a strategy of attempting to diminish the importance of the issue. Typically, he’ll focus on either the issue or the process, and try to equalize the exchange by doing the questioning: “Why is this such a big deal?” or “Why is everybody worried about that?” The person might even attempt to joke about the issue, which can be especially inappropriate.
PROCESS OR PROCEDURAL COMPLAINTS.
Sometimes, a person won’t necessarily go on the attack, but will still attempt to play offense rather than defense by taking issue with the proceedings. Questions like “Why are you asking me?” or “How long is this going to take?” fall into this category. They may be a delaying tactic, similar to repeating the question or making non-answer statements, or they may be an attempt at deflection in the hope of steering the proceedings down a different path.
FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND A SIMPLE QUESTION.
When you ask a question, you often use certain words or phrases to establish boundaries that define the scope or magnitude of the question. If that particular wording traps the person, one strategy he might employ is to get you to change your phrasing or terminology. The aim is to shrink the scope or magnitude of the question, to give him just enough wiggle room to answer it to your satisfaction and to his.
REFERRAL STATEMENTS.
Sometimes in response to a question, a deceptive person will refer to having previously answered the question. This might take the form of such statements as,
“I would refer you to my earlier statement when I said . . .”
“As I told the last guy . . .”
“As we have repeatedly stated in our corporate filings . . .”
The idea here is to build credibility. It’s a subtle tactic, but much more powerful than most people realize. We may not be convinced that the person is being truthful, but repetition is a psychological tool that often can make us more open to that possibility than we otherwise would have been.
INVOKING RELIGION.
When a person brings God into the equation, he’s engaging in an extreme form of what psychologists call “dressing up the lie,” and it can be very effective.
“I swear to God . . .”
“As Allah is my witness . . .”
“I swear on a stack of Bibles . . .”
“God knows I’m telling the truth.”
SELECTIVE MEMORY.
When a person says, “I don’t remember,” that’s a difficult statement to refute without some definitive, tangible evidence. It’s a psychological alibi, and it’s a hard alibi to crack. Another problem with selective memory is that it can easily be legitimate. Context is especially important when identifying this particular behavior.
“Not that I recall . . .”
“To the best of my knowledge . . .”
“Not that I’m aware of . . .”
“As far as I know . . .”
QUALIFIERS.
There are two types of qualifiers that are potential deceptive indicators: exclusion qualifiers and perception qualifiers.
Exclusion qualifiers enable people who want to withhold certain information to answer your question truthfully without releasing that information. Keep in mind that we all have speech habits and patterns that can account for the presence of these qualifiers, so again, remember the cluster rule. Consider the use of multiple qualifiers in response to a question as one indicator. There can be a lot of them in a single response.
“Not really . . .”
“Fundamentally . . .”
“Basically . . .”
“For the most part . . .”
“Probably . . .”
“Usually . . .”
“Possibly . . .”
“Most often . . .”
PERCEPTION QUALIFIERS
“Frankly . . .”
“To tell you the truth . . .”
“Honestly . . .”
“To be perfectly honest . . .”
“Candidly . . .”
“Truthfully
CONVINCING STATEMENTS.
Lies of influence, occur in the form of what we call “convincing statements.” Unlike qualifiers, we consider each convincing statement as a separate deceptive indicator. So, two convincing statements constitute a cluster.
They tend to be perfectly reasonable, and they can be very difficult to catch simply because they make so much sense.
Second, convincing statements usually incorporate emotion.
CONVINCING STATEMENTS
“No one would ever question my honesty.”
“I have a great reputation.”
“I’m an honest person.”
“My word is my bond.”
“It’s not in my nature to do something like that.”
“I always try to do the right thing.”
“I would never jeopardize my job by doing something like that.”
“How could you even think I could be involved in something this serious?”
“I have worked here for over twenty years.”
“I love you, I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Visual clues of deception
At least two-thirds of our communication is accomplished nonverbally. If we consider that category of communication in its entirety and think of it as “body language,” it’s important to understand that the deceptive nonverbal behaviors we examine as part of the model are only a subset of that. In other words, some forms of body language are considerably more revealing than others. you need to limit your analysis to only those behaviors that come in direct, timely response to the stimulus, which is your question.
BEHAVIORAL PAUSE OR DELAY IN RESPONSE.
How long does a delay have to be before it’s meaningful, before you would consider it a deceptive indicator? The delay needs to be considered in the context of whether it’s appropriate for the question.
A second variable is whether the delay is appropriate for the person. In the course of an interview, for example, a pattern will naturally develop that gives you a sense of how much time elapses before the person responds to your questions. If we see something that falls outside of that established pattern, then we have a concern.
VERBAL/NONVERBAL DISCONNECT.
Our brains are wired in a way that causes our verbal and nonverbal behaviors to naturally match up. So when there’s a disconnect, we consider that a potential deceptive indicator.
A common verbal/nonverbal disconnect to watch out for is when a person nods affirmatively while saying, “No,” or turns his head from side to side while saying, “Yes.”
Caveats associated with this particular indicator:
First, this indicator is only applicable in a narrative response, not in a one-word or short-phrase response. Consider, for example, that a person’s head might make a sharp nodding motion when he says “No!” That’s not a disconnect; it’s simple emphasis.
Second, it’s important to keep in mind that in some cultures, a nodding motion doesn’t mean “yes,” and a side-to-side head motion doesn’t mean “no.” So, you need to ensure you’re familiar with the cultural patterns of the person who’s being questioned.
HIDING THE MOUTH OR EYES.
A deceptive person will often hide her mouth or eyes when she’s being untruthful. There is a natural tendency to want to cover over a lie, so if a person’s hand goes in front of her mouth while she’s responding to a question, that’s significant.
Similarly, there’s a natural inclination to shield oneself from the reaction of those who are being lied to. If a person shields her eyes while she’s responding to a question, what she might well be indicating, on a subconscious level, is that she can’t bear to see the reaction to the whopper
she’s telling.
This shielding may be accomplished with a hand, or the person might even close her eyes. We’re not referring to blinking here, but if a person closes her eyes while responding to a question that does not require reflection to answer, we consider that a means of hiding the eyes, and a likely deceptive indicator.
THROAT-CLEARING OR SWALLOWING.
If a person clears his throat or performs a significant swallow prior to answering the question, that’s a potential problem.
If he does it after he answers, that doesn’t bother us.
But if he does it before he answers, a couple of things might be happening.
He might be doing the nonverbal equivalent of the verbal “I swear to God.”—dressing up the lie in its Sunday best before presenting it to us.
Or physiologically, the question might have created a spike in anxiety, which can cause discomfort or dryness in the mouth and throat.
HAND-TO-FACE ACTIVITY.
This often takes the form of biting or licking the lips, or pulling on the lips or ears. The reason goes back to simple high school science. You’ve asked a question, and the question creates a spike in anxiety because a truthful response would be incriminating. That, in turn, triggers the autonomic
nervous system to go to work to dissipate the anxiety.
One of the ways it does that is by kicking in the fight-or-flight response. The person’s body is rerouting circulation to his vital organs and major muscle groups so he can run faster, jump higher, fight harder in response to the threat. Where does that blood come from? It comes from blood-rich regions of the body that can temporarily do with a diminished supply of blood—typically, the surfaces of the face, the ears, and the extremities. When the blood rushes away from those regions, it irritates the capillaries, which can create a sensation of cold or itchiness. Without the person even realizing it, his hands are drawn to those areas, or there’s a wringing or rubbing of the hands.
ANCHOR-POINT MOVEMENT.
A person’s anchor points are those parts of his body that anchor him in a particular spot or position. If a person is standing, his primary anchor points are his feet. His secondary anchor points might be his arms if they’re folded in front of him, or they might be his hands if he’s standing with his hands on his hips or in his pockets. We’re not worried about his posture; we’re only looking at those anchor points.
If a person is sitting in a chair, his primary anchor points would be his buttocks, his back, and his feet. We always consider both feet as anchor points, even if he has his legs crossed and one foot is in the air. In fact, if everything else is locked down, that foot in the air might be the most likely anchor point to move as the body works to dissipate anxiety, because it’s the point of least resistance. Secondary anchor points might be an elbow on the arm of the chair, or hands resting in the lap. Bear in mind that we do not consider each anchor-point movement as a separate deceptive indicator. So, if there is anchor point movement in response to your question, regardless of how many anchor points move, count that as just one deceptive behavior.
It’s worth mentioning here that when we interview someone, the last place we would want the interviewee to sit is in a straight-back chair with four legs. We want the person in a chair that has wheels, that rocks and swivels, that might even have moveable arm rests. That type of chair becomes a behavioral amplifier, magnifying those anchor-point movements and making them particularly easy to spot.
GROOMING GESTURES. A deceptive man might adjust his tie or shirt cuffs, or maybe his glasses. An untruthful woman might move a few strands of hair behind her ear, or straighten her skirt.
We’re also concerned with sweat management. That a person might be sweating doesn’t bother us, but if he takes out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his brow when responding to a question, that’s significant.
Tidying up the surroundings is another form of grooming gesture. You ask a question, and suddenly the phone isn’t turned the right way, the glass of water is too close, or the pencil isn’t in the right place.
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