Eye contact

Eye contact is the event when two people look at each other's eyes at the same time. It is a form of nonverbal communication, and can be an intense or emotional occurrence or a soon-forgotten event. Eye contact is a large influence on social behaviour, but it means dramatically different things at different times and in different situations. Eye contact is interpreted differently and occurs at greatly different frequencies across cultures and animal species. Eye aversion is the avoidance of eye contact.

Social meanings of eye contact
Eye contact and facial expressions provide important social and emotional information; people continually probe each other's eyes and faces for positive or negative mood signs. In some contexts, the meeting of eyes arouses strong emotions. These include:

Romantic attraction
Lovers often gaze into each other's eyes for extended periods of time, using nonverbal communication to express their love for one another. The eyes have often been described as the "windows of the soul".

Intimidation and status
In primate behavior, the unwavering gaze is used as a sign of dominance and threat, while gaze avoidance originated as a submissive cue. Looking directly into the others' eyes for a prolonged time may be an effective way of intimidating somebody.

Most common with stutterers is the inability to maintain eye contact with the listener, which may in turn hamper the growth of personal or professional relationships.

Actors in theatre are trained to avoid specific eye contact with any members of the audience, and in film are generally instructed to avoid looking directly into the camera. This is to keep the audience from feeling self-conscious or uncomfortable.

After interviewing Saddam Hussein, Dan Rather described him as a "strong eye-contact person". Later, after being captured, Hussein avoided eye contact with his visitors.

Confidence and trust
In American culture, eye contact is crucial to establishing a connection and a sense of trust between the individuals involved, and regular, friendly eye contact actively shows the other person that you are interested in him/her and what he/she has to say. There is more direct gaze when people like each other and cooperate, while people make less eye contact when they dislike each other or disagree. In more reserved, formal cultures, a lack of eye contact can show respect.

Physiological explanation
The size of the pupils may reveal a great deal about a person's current state. Strong emotions, convictions, and moods often stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and cause dilation of the pupils. In response to a threat or fear, this is often called the fight or flight response, and has an effect on the appearance of the eye.

The pupil may dilate if a person sees something (or someone) of interest or is aroused, thus making eye contact much more intense than it already is. Studies have shown that humans (especially females) are judged as more attractive if their pupils are wide open and more dilated than is normal.

Mother/child eye contact
Although some assert that children often respond to their mother's eyes from the moment of birth and that babies instinctively smile at black geometric spots -- perceiving them as "eyes" by six weeks of age, a 1985 study published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology suggested that "3-month-old infants are comparatively insensitive to being the object of another's visual regard". A 1996 Canadian study with 3 to 6 month old infants found that smiling in the infants decreased when adult eye contact was removed. A recent British study in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience found that face recognition by infants was facilited by direct gaze. Other recent research has confirmed the belief that the direct of gaze of adults influences the direct of gaze of infants .

Other explanations
Communicating attention A person's direction of gaze may indicate to others where his or her attention lies.

Facilitating learning Recent studies suggests that eye contact has a positive impact on the retention and recall of information and may promote more efficient learning .

Cultural differences
Cultural differences must be considered in determining proper eye contact. Many cultures consider eye contact (whether prolonged or fleeting) to be a spiritual and renewing experience, while others see it as intrusive and rude. In Japan, listeners are taught to focus on a speaker's neck in order to avoid eye contact, possibly a holdover from Samurai days, when peasants risked decapitation by looking a samurai in the eye. Some social critics see this phenomenon as reflecting an overall greater formality in the culture and a generally pessimistic, cynical view of human nature. In the U.S., too much eye contact with an unfamiliar person may be considered rude and intrusive.

Muslims have to Lower-Gaze, and not to focus on opposite sex's faces and eyes, after the initial first eye contact, other than their legitimate partners or family members, in order to avoid potential unwanted desires (See References). Lustful glance to one of the same sex, young or adult, is also prohibited. This means that eye contact between any man and woman is allowed only for a second or two. This is a must in most Islamic schools, with some exceptions depending on the case, like when teaching, testifying, or looking at a girl for marriage. If allowed, it is only allowed under the general rule: "No-Desire", clean eye-contact. Otherwise, it is not allowed, and considered "adultery of the eyes." (See References).

Misc
In adults, eye contact shows personal involvement and creates intimate bonds. Mutual gaze narrows the physical gap between humans.

People may feel uncomfortable if someone is staring at them.

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris invented a device called the Interrotron which allowed his interview subjects to look directly into the camera while being filmed. It allows the film's viewers to maintain eye contact with the people in Morris' films, giving what some describe as a more intimate acquaintance with them.