TheSecretsofEyeContact，Reveale

　　标题：TheSecretsofEyeContact，RevealedWhowelookat，andforhowlong，canhavefarmoreimpactthanourwords。
　　source：psychologytoday丨AdrianFurnhamPh。D。
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　　“Trivial，irrelevant，andessentiallyofnoscientificinterest。
　　ThiswastheinitialreactiontomyPh。D。supervisor’smostquotedpaper，publishedalmostexactly50yearsago。Thetopicwaseyegazewhen，where，andwhypeoplelookateachother，particularlyintheeye。Butsincethenithasattractedagreatdealofinterest。
　　Theeyesarethemessengersofthesoul。We“keepoureyesopen（orpeeled），”we“seeeyetoeye”withsomebut“turnablindeye”toothers。Somepeopleare“morethanmeetstheeye，”someare“theappleofyoureye，”andsome“asightforsoreeyes。”Youmayprefer“nottobataneye”butbesurethatnoonecan“pullthewooloveryoureyes。”
　　Wecanaccuratelyreademotionsjustfromeyeslits，whichiswhytalkingtopeoplewearingdarkglasses，orworse，mirroredlensescanbesoproblematic。
　　Where，when，andhowwelookatothersareallpartofthephenomenonofeyegaze，oneofourmostimportantandprimitivemeansofcommunication。Gazeplaysacrucialroleinconversation。Lookingatanotherpersonisawayofgettingfeedbackonparticularpoints。Itisalsousedasasynchronizingsignal。Peopletendtolookupattheendofutterances：Thisgivesthemfeedbackandhandsovertheconversationalbaton。Peoplealsolookupmoreattheendofgrammaticalbreaks，butlookawaywhenhesitating，talkingnonfluently，orthinking。Thereisoftenmutualeyecontactduringattemptedinterruptions，laughing，andwhenansweringshortquestions。
　　Gazefunctionstoencourageandpersuadeinallhumanbeings。Forinstanceweknowthat：
　　Agazermayinviteinteractionbystaringatanotherpersonontheothersideofaroom。Tsstudiedreturnofthegazeisgenerallyinterpretedasacceptanceoftheinvitation，whileavertingtheeyesisarejectionoftherequest。Witdiscouragesfurtherconversation。Weignoreandpunishbehaviorsimplybygazeaversion。
　　（Atschoolweusedhavefunshapingteacherbehavior。Thegamewentlikethis：Iftheteacherwasaperambulatorwhowanderedaroundtheroom，everytimeheorshemovedtotheleftsideoftheroomyoulookedup，smiled，andmaintainedeyecontact。Everytimeheorshemovedtotheright，youlookedaway。Thenyoumeasuredhowmuchtimetheteacherspentoneithersideoftheroom。Welearnedthatyoucanpowerfullyinfluenceothersbysimplymaintainingoravoidingeyecontact。）
　　Thereismoremutualeyecontactbetweenfriendsthanothers，sfrankgazeiswidelyinterpretedaspositiveregard。Loversreallydogazemoreintoeachother’seyes。
　　Peoplewhoseekeyecontactwhilespeakingareregardednotonlyasexceptionallywelldisposedbytheirtargets，butalsoasmorebelievableandearnest。Ptheroomwiththeirgaze。Salesmenknowtolookateachmemberoftheiraudience。
　　Iftheusualshort，intermittentgazesofaconversationarereplacedbygazesoflongerduration，thetargetinterpretsthisasmeaningthatthecommunicationislessimportantthanthepersonalrelationshipbetweentwopeople。
　　Theamountandtypeofeyegazeimpartsagreatdealofinformation。Pupildilation，blinkrates，directionofgaze，wideningoftheeyesallsendveryclearmessages。
　　Thecausesandconsequenceofpupildilationareparticularlyinteresting，becauseitisoneofthosecommunicationbehaviorsofwhichneitherpartyismuchawareduringthecommunication。Considerthis：Peopleareshowntwoidenticalphotographsofawomanwiththeonlydifferencebeingthatinoneofthemherpupilsizeisdetectably（andartificially）enlargedtobedoublethenormal，naturalsize。Whenaskedtoratewhichismoreattractive，6080willnominatethephotowiththefalselydilatedpupils。However，ifyouaskthemtopointouthowthephotographsdiffer，veryfewwillbeabletoidentifypupildilation（oritsmanipulation）；instead，theypointtoskin，hairtexture，lips，orfacialshape。
　　Pupilsdilateforvariousreasons：Inbrightlight，indimlight，theyexpand。Buttheyalsodilatewhenstrongemotionslikesexualexcitementorrageareexperienced。Thelattervisiblymanifestsincatsordogsthatareabouttofight。Wsmore，peoplerespondtootherswhoappeartobesexuallyattractedtothem。Womenusedtoputbelladonnaplantextract（whichliterallytranslatesasbeautifulwoman）intheireyestocausepupildilation（and，consequentlyasitturnedout，visionproblems）。Thiscouldbeapainfulanddangerousprocessbutwasconsideredworthittoattractmen。Thusaman，unawareofwhyhewasattractedtothewoman，mayhaverespondedtothedilatedpupils。
　　Thisisanexampleofpowerofvisiblesignalsnotonethatmaybethemostrelevantorapplicableintheworkplace，however。
　　Consider10factorsthatdetermineouramountofeyegaze：
　　Distance。Inelevators，weturntofacethedoorbecausewestandtoocloseandreducingeyegazehelpsreducethediscomfortofhavingourbodyzonesinvaded。Notehowconversationbefore，during，andaftertheridechanges。Assoonasthedistancebetweenpeopledropsbelow6feet，theireyecontactpatternsdecrease。
　　Topicofconversation。IsnoaccidentthatCatholicconfessionalsandpsychiatriccouchesarearrangedtoattempttoreducetheamountofcontactbetweenthepriestortherapistandtheconfessororpatient。Whenpeoplearetalkingaboutshamefulandembarrassingthingsorlookinginward，itisbetterthattheysensebutdonotactuallyseeothers，andthatthoselisteningdonot（cannot）stareatthem。Similarly，peopleoftenfindthattheycanhavegoodconversationswhilewalkingordoingacooperativeactivity，suchaswashingup，becausetheyarecloseto，butnotlookingat，theircompanions。Intimatetalkcanbeinhibitedbyeyecontact。
　　Conversationtask。Doctorslookmoreatpatientswhentalkingaboutemotionalratherthanphysicalsymptomsorconditions。Peopleingenerallookmoreatcooperatorsthancompetitors。Persuaderslookmorewhentryingtoinfluence。
　　Attention。Hitchhikers，charitytinshakers，andothersmaximizeeyecontacttoincreaseattention。Peoplelookateachotherabout75ofthetimewhentalkingbutonly40ofthetimewhenlistening。Onelookstoget，andkeep，theattentionofothers。
　　Interpersonalrelationships。Peoplelookatthosetheylikemorethanthosetheydonotandourpupilsdilatemorewhenwearelookingatthosewelike。Gazealsosignalsdominance：Morepowerfulpeoplearelookedatmore（partlybecausetheytendtolookmoreandspeakless）。Threatisalsoindicatedbygaze：Directgazesignalsthreat，whilecuttingofforavertingyourgazeislikelytosignalappeasement。
　　Cooperation。Theextenttowhichpeoplearewillingtocooperateratherthancompeteisoftencommunicatedbygazepatterns。Theamountandtypeofgazeisimportant：Thecommonmeaningofahighlevelofgazeisthatthegazerisinterestedandattentive。However，combinedwithcertainexpressionsitcouldaseasilyindicatethreat。
　　Personality。Extrovertslookmoreoften，andforlonger，attheirinterlocutorsthanintrovertsdo。Theconfident，thebright，andthesociallydominantlookmore，whileitistheoppositeforthesociallyanxious。Femaleslookmoreatthosetheyaretalkingtothanmalesdo。
　　Physicalappearance。Peoplelooklessatthedisabledandlessattractiveindividualsandviceversa。
　　Mentalillness。Manypsychopathologiesareassociatedwithreducedandor“odd”gazepatterns，especiallyautismandparanoia。Schizophrenicsanddepressedpeopletendtoaverteyegaze。
　　Ethnicity。ContactcultureslikethoseinthenearEastlookateachothermorethannoncontactcultureslikethoseinEurope。
　　Peopledisguiseeyecontactbywearingdarkglassesorsunshades。Blindpeopledosotoindicatetheirblindnessbutalsobecausetheycannotlookpeopleintheeyeoralwaysfaceothersdirectly。Securityguardsweardarkglassessothatpossiblesuspectscannotseethedirectioninwhichtheyarelooking。Trafficpolicewearreflecting，irateornervousdriverscanbeputoffaconfrontationiftheynotonlycannotseetheeyesofthepolicemanbutarealsoforcedtoseetheirowneyes。Theyexperienceobjectiveselfawareness，seeingthemselvesasobjectsandnotseeingthosetheyareengagingwith。
　　Mostofusknowpeoplewhoclosetheireyeswhilespeaking。Thismayindicatethatapersonisboredorfeelssuperior。Theydenybothspeakerandlistenertheopportunitytoreceiveandgivefeedback。（Shy，introvertedpeoplealsotendtohavelessopeneyegaze。）
　　Thewayroomsarefurnishedcanmaximizeorminimizeeyecontact，aswithpsychiatriccouchesandconfessionroomsdescribedabove。Butthepositionofchairs，desks，andotherofficeparaphernaliamightalsobeacluetoahost’spreferredmodeofcommunicationandpersonality。Itcanalsodictatehowcloseyousittooneanother，howeasyitistolookateachotherintheeye，andtheangleofcontact，ororientation：Itcanbeveryuncomforhavingtositfacetofaceataveryclosedistance，orparticularlyrelaxing。
　　So，ourgaze：Trivialnonverbalbehaviororanimportantwaywecommunicateconsciouslyandunconsciouslywitheachother？