Physiological Aspects of Communication Via Mutual Gaze

TLDR

Eye contact serves as a nonverbal communication channel that can signal aggression, bonding, or aid, and theories suggest that mutual gaze induces physiological arousal that contributes to its communicative effectiveness. Experiments show that mutual gaze increases physiological arousal, can manipulate another’s physiology, and that a person’s response predicts their subsequent dominance, highlighting rapid status differentiation in face‑to‑face interactions.

Abstract

Eye contact between two people often serves as a channel of nonverbal communication. It may signal aggresive or dominating intent, as in a staredown, or it may convey an impression of close bonding, intimacy, or a request for aid, depending on how actors define the situation. Some theories of nonverbal communication assume that mutual gaze is physiologically arousing and that this arousal accounts in part for the efficacy of eye contact as a communication channel. The first experiment reported here shows that mutual gaze does indeed cause more physiological arousal than control conditions of nonmutual gaze. The second experiment demonstrates that an actor can communicate with another person by gazing in such a manner that he can manipulate that person's physiology. A third experiment demonstrates that a subject's response to a mutual gaze is a good predictor of his or her degree of influence (dominance) in subsequent social interaction. These results emphasize the rapid emergence of status differentiation in face-to-face interaction between strangers.