Do People's Eyes Indicate When They Are Lying?

Many people believe that they can tell when someone is lying by looking at the person's eye movement, but studies have shown that this is not a reliable way of detecting dishonesty. It also has been shown that practiced liars can learn how to control their body language, making it extremely difficult to detect lying just by watching them. More reliable ways of catching someone in a lie include asking a lot of questions and asking the person to repeat his or her story while listening for inconsistencies.

More about eyes and lying:

• Some people believe that failing to maintain eye contact is a sign of deception. The trouble with this assumption is that a failure to make eye contact might be the result of cultural expectations, shyness or even being on the autism spectrum. In addition, con artists often make eye contact as a way of bluffing their victims.


• Dilated pupils — pupils that have opened wider — are sometimes associated with deception, although they also can be the result of stress or of the use of some medications.


• Studies have shown that there is a connection between pupil dilation and sexual attraction.