Q&A for How to Make Someone Tell the Truth

You cannot really make someone tell the truth, but you can encourage it by asking very specific questions. You can also ask follow-up questions if you are not satisfied with the answer you are given (if it is too vague). You can also ask a question that you know the answer to in order to gauge the truthfulness of the person. You can also watch their body language and eye contact while they are responding.

If they're not telling the truth, they might dart their eyes away or to the floor, and avoid keep eye contact with you. If you know the person well, look for out-of-character behavior.

The truth will generally not be accompanied by defensiveness or over-explanation. There will be a matter-of-fact quality to the person's words and actions.

First ask yourself if you lie repeatedly or habitually. For some people, they learn early that telling the truth doesn't work--perhaps because they were excessively punished as children. To begin with, you must trust the person who are planning telling the truth to. You have to feel safe that even if you will be chastised or punished, it will be fair, and not brutal. See if there are some people you could practice telling the truth to, but not others. This could tell you a lot about your various relationships. If it continues to be a serious problem, you might seek counseling to work it through. Best of luck.

It sounds like this so-called friend has crossed many personal boundaries. First of all, put a password on all your electronics, and don't give it out! If you haven't yet talked with the friend about how you feel about the lying, then give that a try; review the article above.. Assess if this person is worth your time to spend time with. If the answer is "no," then pull back--spend less time; don't confide in them. There is little you can do to someone gossiping about you, but hopefully the friends who really matter will be able to discern the truth from lies about you.