Life story: the deceitful seeker

We talked with a man who explained why he lost his job. He told us that in the former place of work, inadequate prospects opened up for him, that it was difficult for him to leave, that he got along well with his colleagues. My colleague who conducted the interview with me, it seemed that the applicant is clearly lying. She said that she “intuitively feels” that this man is clearly not of the highest opinion of his former boss, despite all the kind words addressed to him. Looking through the video recording of the interview in slow motion, we noticed that every time at the mention of the former chief, the applicant for a split second wrinkled a corner of his mouth. Such contradictory signals did not last very long, and an unprepared observer would not have noticed them. We called the former chief of our applicant, who told us that this man was fired for distributing drugs among employees. Although the applicant did his best to imitate the signals of the body language, the contradictory micro signals did not hide from the sharp gaze of the female psychologist.
The main thing in this process is to separate real gestures from imitation. Only in this way you will be able to distinguish an honest person from a deceiver or impostor. Expansion of the pupils, excessive sweating and the blush on the cheeks cannot be consciously imitated, but learning to demonstrate open palms confirming your sincerity is simple.

The simulator can successfully pretend, but only very briefly.

However, there are situations in which body language signals are simulated consciously for the sake of obtaining certain advantages. Consider, for example, the contest "Miss World" or "Miss Universe". Each participant uses pre-learned movements that help her look sincere and benevolent. The more successful the contestant sends such signals to the judges, the higher her scores will be. But even experienced participants of beauty contests can only pretend very briefly. Sometimes their bodies send conflicting signals that are independent of conscious actions. Many politicians successfully imitate gestures of body language to convince voters of the sincerity of their promises. And sometimes such an imitation is crowned with success - remember at least John F. Kennedy or Adolf Hitler. About such politicians say that they possess "charisma".
Summing up, it must be said that it is very difficult to imitate body language for a long time. However, as we will see later, it is entirely possible to learn how to use positive signals and avoid negative ones in order to make the desired impression. Thanks to this skill it will become easier to communicate with others. This goal was set by the authors.