3 physical cues that signal someone is lying to you

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We are lied to every day.

The friend who said he's feeling sick and can't make dinner really just wanted to go home and watch Netflix.

The co-worker who said she liked your dress was just looking for something to fill the dead air in the elevator on the long ride up to the 25^th floor.

And it was all social niceties when the high-school classmate you ran into on the subway said "It was nice to see you."

Full disclosure: they has no plans of actually following up on Facebook so that you guys can grab drinks.

Sometimes those little white lies are best let go. But there are other times when identifying a lie when you hear it may be a worthwhile skill. Say, when your significant other is hiding something or your boss says there's no way they can afford to give you a raise.

Luckily, Scientific American recently featured a podcast by the "Savvy Psychologist" Dr. Ellen Hendriksen that explores this exact topic. She identifies seven signs you can be on the lookout for that signal when what you're being told is a bunch of b---s---.

There are "two different ways that lies leak from a liar like sweat on a brow," said Dr. Hendriksen: Some of the cues are physical, while others are verbal.

When it comes to the physiological signs of a lie, it’s not what someone is saying, but how they are saying it that we should be paying attention to. Here are three physical cues to be on the lookout for:

1. The 'duping delight' expression 

"Microexpressions are fleeting, split-second facial expressions that reveal a deliberately covered emotion," said Hendriksen.

Now, there are other reasons someone may do this — say, they don't want you to know they are shocked or upset by something. This doesn't necessarily mean they are lying, just trying to hide a certain emotion from being expressed.

But there is one microexpression that is usually a sure sign that a lie has been thrown into the mix. It's called "duping delight … which is a smile or excited fidgeting that results from anticipation of a successful lie," said Hendriksen.

"Feeling he or she got away with it gives the liar a thrill of pleasure." It most likely won't be exaggerated so you'll need to pay close attention for for this small expression immediately after someone has made a statement — if you notice it, you may have a liar on your hands.

2. Gaze aversion 

The breaking off of eye contact is a big red flag that the truth isn’t being told. "Most liars know that lying is wrong so reducing eye contact reduces the guilt of lying to your face," said Hendriksen.

"In addition, lying generally takes a lot of cognitive and emotional energy so simultaneously holding eye contact can overload a liar and cause him or her to look away."

3. Non-congruent gestures 

"The words are lies but the body tells the truth," said Hendriksen. The key is noticing when someone's body language does not match what they are saying. For example, strongly confident words coupled with a shrug of the shoulders or an exclamation of "yes, I will do something!" with a shake "no" of the head. This dissonance is a pretty good sign that something isn't adding up.

For the four clues to listen for when trying to parse out a lie, listen to the rest of Hendriksen's podcast here.