How you write 'shows if you're a liar', scientists discover

Psychologists have suggested that handwriting changes when someone is lying because the brain has to work harder to invent facts Photo: GETTY

Instead of analysing body language or eye movement, to catch out people telling fibs, people’s handwriting can instead give them away.

While stressing the research was in the early stages, scientists say it could one day help validate loan application or even insurance claims.

Psychologists have suggested that handwriting changes when someone is lying because the brain has to work harder to invent facts, which then in turn interfere with the normal writing process.

Researchers at the University of Haifa, Israel, asked 34 volunteers to write two short paragraphs, where in one they recalled a real memory while in the other a fictitious event.

The volunteers used a wireless electronic pen with a tip that was pressure-sensitive in order to write their memories and lies, the study published in the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology reported.

The paper was then placed on a computer tablet, which monitored and analysed their writing style.

The scientists then found those who wrote lies pressed harder on the paper, had longer pen strokes and produced taller letters than those telling the truth.

“In the false writing condition, the average pressure, stroke length and height were significantly higher than in the true writing condition,” the researchers said.

Professor Richard Wiseman, psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, told the Daily Mail the technique was promising, but needed testing on a much bigger scale.

“We know that people hesitate more when they lie and some companies already use this fact to see how long it takes people to tick boxes when filling in surveys online,” he said.