How to tell if they really like their Christmas presents

The first signs of feigning delight occur as the present is pulled out of the box, according to Dr Moore – and it’s a momentary facial freeze as the receiver tries to work out how they’re going to pull the wool over the eyes of the giver.

Dr Moore said: ‘It’s the microseconds of you trying to find that template – if you want to be happy, it’s you trying to work out what you need to look like.

‘If you’re good, you’ll pick up on those things. It’s very quick. It happens over a few hundredths of a second. The quick search you do when you need to project happiness. It’s like a car going into neutral, then all of a sudden you find the gear. You’ve got to find that gear. If you’re tuned into it, you’ll pick it up.’