How to tell if someone is lying?
Mr. Nasher, you are an economic psychologist, professor at the Munich Business School, negotiation expert, and researcher on lies. How can you tell if someone is lying? Ask yourself what you feel when you lie. Probably the typical emotions: fear and guilt. These emotions are easy to recognize: We humans are almost 100% accurate in recognizing if another person is feeling fear – we have an intuitive mastery of this. So, ask yourself: do I see fear in the other person without any apparent reason? This is already a good indication. Additionally, guilt interestingly looks like sadness: corners of the mouth droop, gaze becomes vacant. If you also see guilt, you can be much more certain. You have documented your findings in the book "Durchschaut". In it, you put forward the thesis that women are better at recognizing lies. Why? Women have what is commonly referred to as "fine-tuned antennas": they are more sensitive. Unfortunately, they are often more naive and tend to ignore their gut feelings. Unless they have been deceived by a person before, then they are extremely difficult to deceive. Negotiations have to do with power. A beginner doesn't really stand a chance in a job interview with a manager, right? A four-year-old illiterate child can be more powerful than a forty-year-old CEO who begs him to finally eat his dinner. Power in a negotiation has nothing to do with the normal power structure. Understanding and influencing this power dynamic is one of the most crucial aspects. What is the most common negotiation mistake? People compromise too quickly, especially when they like each other. Instead of exploring each other's true interests and coming up with creative collaborations, they simply split the pie in half. This leads to a waste of a lot of money, which is very regrettable.
