What exactly is a lie? Is it anything we say which we know is untrue? Or is it something more than that? For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you. You say “I wish I could help you but I'm short of money myself." In fact,  you are not short of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debt and you don't want to hurt his feelings by reminding him of this. Is this really a lie ?

    Professor Jerald Jellison of the University of Southern California has made a scientific study on lying.  According to him, women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a "white lie," such as when a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress when she really thinks it looks awful. However, this is only one side of the story. Other researchers say that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise which they have no intention of fulfilling.  This  is the kind of lie politicians  and businessmen are  supposed to be particularly skilled at:the lie from which the liar hopes to profit or gain in some way.
        
    Research has also been done into the way people's behavior changes in a number of small,apparently unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sitting down at the time, they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual. To the trained observer they are saying,"I wish I were somewhere else now." They also tend to touch certain parts of the face more often, in particular the nose. One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure. The tip of the nose is very sensitive to such changes and the increased pressures make it itch.
        
    Another gesture which gives liars away is what the writer Desmond Morris in his book Manwatching calls “the mouth cover." He says there are several typical forms of this,such as covering part of the mouth with the fingers, touching the upper-lip or putting a finger of the hand at one side of the mouth.Such a gesture can be understood as an unconscious attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself or herself from lying.
        
    Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth, or moving about in a chair cannot be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to occur more frequently in this situation. It is not one gesture alone that gives the liar away but a whole number of things, and in particular the context in which the lie is told.

謊言究竟是什么驱入？是說(shuō)一一些我們知道不是真實(shí)的事情？還是甚于這些氯析？例如亏较，假設(shè)一個(gè)朋友向你借錢。你說(shuō)“我希望能幫助你掩缓，但我現(xiàn)在自己也缺錢”雪情。實(shí)際上，你并不缺錢你辣，但是你的這位朋友卻有欠錢不還的習(xí)慣巡通，而你又不想提醒他這點(diǎn)而傷害他的感情。這是一個(gè)真正的謊言嗎舍哄？

南加州大學(xué)的Jerald Jellison教授做過(guò)一個(gè)關(guān)于說(shuō)謊的科學(xué)研究宴凉。他的研究顯示女人比男人更善于說(shuō)謊，特別是說(shuō)“善意的謊言”表悬，例如在一個(gè)派對(duì)上一個(gè)女人對(duì)另一個(gè)女人說(shuō)她喜歡對(duì)方的衣服而實(shí)際上她認(rèn)為那衣服很難看弥锄。然而這只是故事的一方面。其他的研究者稱男人更傾向于說(shuō)一些較嚴(yán)重的謊言签孔，例如承諾他們從來(lái)沒(méi)想過(guò)要實(shí)現(xiàn)的承諾叉讥。政客和商人似乎特別擅長(zhǎng)于此類謊言：說(shuō)謊者可從謊言中獲利或在某些方面得到好處。

同樣也有人研究當(dāng)人們說(shuō)謊時(shí)他們行為的一些細(xì)小的饥追、看似不重要的改變图仓。結(jié)果表明如果他們當(dāng)時(shí)坐著，那么他們會(huì)比往常更多地在椅子上動(dòng)來(lái)動(dòng)去但绕。在受過(guò)訓(xùn)練的觀察者看來(lái)救崔，他們這樣做是在說(shuō)“我希望我是在另外一個(gè)地方”o他們也會(huì)更多地觸摸臉部的某些部分，特別是鼻子捏顺。一個(gè)解釋是說(shuō)謊會(huì)使血壓產(chǎn)生微小的變化六孵。鼻尖對(duì)這樣的變化非常敏感，血壓的增加使得它發(fā)癢幅骄。

另一個(gè)將說(shuō)謊者出賣的拳動(dòng)是在Desmond Morris的書《人類觀》(Manwatching)中提到的“捂嘴”劫窒。他說(shuō)有幾種典型的動(dòng)作形式，例如用手指掩住嘴的一部分拆座，摸上嘴唇或者一個(gè)手指支在嘴角主巍。這樣的行為可以看做是一種阻止說(shuō)謊者繼續(xù)說(shuō)謊的下意識(shí)舉動(dòng)冠息。

當(dāng)然，這些舉止孕索，例如摸鼻子或者掩蓋嘴唇逛艰，或者在椅子上動(dòng)來(lái)動(dòng)去，都不能作為講話者正在說(shuō)謊的證據(jù)搞旭。只是這些行為在這樣的情況下更容易發(fā)生散怖。不是一個(gè)舉止就可以將說(shuō)謊者出賣，而是一系列的事情肄渗，特別是說(shuō)謊者說(shuō)謊的上下文背景镇眷。