If you’re watching The Celebrity Traitors, I think you’ll agree that the Traitors are playing an absolute blinder.
Since they were appointed, Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, and Cat Burns have successfully hoodwinked their fellow contestants week in, week out – with just six Faithful now left.
So, what’s the secret to their success?
According to Dr Lara Warmelink, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lancaster, it all comes down to their ability to get away with lying.
‘Outside of TV shows, when you lie you have one big advantage: the people you are trying to deceive might not be looking out for any signs that you are lying,’ she explained in an article for The Conversation.
‘However, on The Traitors, neither Traitors nor Faithfuls have that luxury.
‘All other players are on the lookout for the slightest sign – a sly smile, a head turned at the wrong moment, an above–average vocabulary. Anything can lead to you being put under the spotlight.’
So, would you be a good traitor? Here are the three simple ways to get away with lying.
Since they were appointed by Claudia Winkleman, Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, and Cat Burns have successfully hoodwinked their fellow contestants week in, week out – with just six Faithful left. So, what’s the secret to their success?
When it comes to lying on the game, the Traitors are probably the first players to spring to mind.
However, as Dr Warmelink points out, Faithful are often forced into lying too.
‘Many Faithfuls tell lies as well: to throw the traitors off their scent, build alliances or manage how other players think of them,’ she explained.
‘This means all players “take heat” at the nightly roundtable, when they are accused of being Traitors and telling lies.’
According to the expert, the celebrities have three easy ways to throw people off the scent when they’re accused of lying.
Firstly, think about the evidence – including what the person accusing you knows, and what they can prove.
‘Denying something vehemently only to have a third player say “You did say that, I heard it too” is likely to land you in hot water,’ Dr Warmelink said.
This applies not only to the evidence you’ve already been confronted with, but also evidence the accuser might secretly know.
Though it might sound counterintuitive, Dr Warmelink advises simply telling the truth on certain occasions. As an example, she highlights Lisa Coupland on series three of The Traitors, who admitted she was a priest when put under pressure over her lies
‘This “strategic use of evidence” can be very effective for an interrogator, so guard against it,’ Dr Warmelink added.
Next, try not to protest too much.
The expert explained: ‘Your first instinct might be to do everything to look Faithful, but that’s not how normal truth–telling people behave.
‘Doing too much can be as harmful as doing too little.’
Finally, though it might sound counterintuitive, Dr Warmelink advises simply telling the truth on certain occasions.
As an example, she highlights Lisa Coupland on series three of The Traitors, who admitted she was a priest when put under pressure over her lies.
‘This worked out beautifully: everyone believed her and the other Faithfuls stopped suspecting her of being a traitor (although the truth was almost certainly a factor in her “murder” four episodes later),’ Dr Warmelink said.
Despite how well the Traitors are doing on this season, the expert warns that their strategies might not keep them safe through until the final.
‘The Traitors is a game designed to keep you on your toes,’ she added.
‘The rules of banishment mean all players benefit from you being the one who is accused
‘Once you have been named as a possible Traitor, any reprieve may well be temporary.’
WHAT ARE THE NINE WAYS TO SPOT A LIAR?
The big pause: Lying is quite a complex process for the body and brain to deal with. First your brain produces the truth which it then has to suppress before inventing the lie and the performance of that lie.
This often leads to a longer pause than normal before answering, plus a verbal stalling technique like ‘Why do you ask that?’ rather than a direct and open response.
The eye dart: Humans have more eye expressions than any other animal and our eyes can give away if we’re trying to hide something.
When we look up to our left to think we’re often accessing recalled memory, but when our eyes roll up to our right we can be thinking more creatively. Also, the guilt of a lie often makes people use an eye contact cut-off gesture, such as looking down or away.
The lost breath: Bending the truth causes an instant stress response in most people, meaning the fight or flight mechanisms are activated.
The mouth dries, the body sweats more, the pulse rate quickens and the rhythm of the breathing changes to shorter, shallower breaths that can often be both seen and heard.
Overcompensating: A liar will often over-perform, both speaking and gesticulating too much in a bid to be more convincing. These over the top body language rituals can involve too much eye contact (often without blinking!) and over-emphatic gesticulation.
The more someone gesticulates, the more likely it is they might be fibbing (stock image)
The poker face: Although some people prefer to employ the poker face, many assume less is more and almost shut down in terms of movement and eye contact when they’re being economical with the truth.
The face hide: When someone tells a lie they often suffer a strong desire to hide their face from their audience. This can lead to a partial cut-off gesture like the well-know nose touch or mouth-cover.
Self-comfort touches: The stress and discomfort of lying often produces gestures that are aimed at comforting the liar, such as rocking, hair-stroking or twiddling or playing with wedding rings. We all tend to use self-comfort gestures but this will increase dramatically when someone is fibbing.
Micro-gestures: These are very small gestures or facial expressions that can flash across the face so quickly they are difficult to see. Experts will often use filmed footage that is then slowed down to pick up on the true body language response emerging in the middle of the performed lie.
The best time to spot these in real life is to look for the facial expression that occurs after the liar has finished speaking. The mouth might skew or the eyes roll in an instant give-away.
Heckling hands: The hardest body parts to act with are the hands or feet and liars often struggle to keep them on-message while they lie.
When the gestures and the words are at odds it’s called incongruent gesticulation and it’s often the hands or feet that are telling the truth.
