How to spot if your partner or date is lying

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, a new survey by contact lens retailer Lenstore has revealed that lovebirds in Cardiff may want to be on the look out for fibbers when they’re dating.

Lenstore asked respondents to confess who they lie to most regularly, and while the most popular choice was strangers (28%), one in eight (16%) Cardiff residents lie most often to their partner or the person they’re dating. On top of this, one in twenty have lied about whether they have cheated, or about who they have dated or are dating right now.

However, Cardiff’s population may have less to worry about in their love lives than the rest of the UK, as one in twelve (8%) Brits have lied about cheating in the past.

But if you’ve had someone cancel a date with you recently, you may want to question whether your beau is being truthful. Cardiff residents most commonly lie that they are busy to avoid seeing someone or doing something (46%) while 6% have even lied about having a family emergency.

When dating someone new, you may be wondering if they’re being themselves, or merely trying to impress you. It turns out that very few people in Cardiff lie about their interests, with just 2% lying about the languages they speak and how much they go to the gym, 4% have lied about their favourite film or their political opinions.

The good news is that if you’re trying to catch your date in a lie, there are various signs in someone’s eye movements that can indicate whether they’re lying. According to Counselling Psychologist, Dr Georgina Barnett, from Psychology and Lifestyle, if the liar in question is less confident or quite nervous, they may display behaviours that we’d typically associate with lying.

“People’s eyes may dart around the room or to the left or right for a few seconds to give themselves a few seconds of reprieve from the guilt they are experiencing by looking into the other persons eyes” Barnett reveals. “They may also avoid eye contact as far as possible because of the emotion and discomfort being triggered.”

However, Barnett warns that a liar’s behaviour is often less straightforward than this. For example, holding eye contact for longer than is natural or typical can indicate dishonesty. “Many people believe that if someone is looking at them straight in the eye that this is an indication of a truthful exchange, but actually practiced and habitual liars tend do use eye contact to fool you – they engage in greater eye contact than the average person to do this. Often, they hardly blink as they try to hold your gaze.”

“It is a strategy on the part of the liar to manipulate you into thinking they are being honest as they are displaying behaviours we associate with truth”.

She added that, “People squint when they are uncomfortable, rub their foreheads and necks, their eyelids may flutter significantly, and a further sign is the eye block – covering their eyes for a second or closing them which is something we all do in moments of stress to block the experience for a moment. You may also see increased perspiration and flushing in the face”.