Eye contact is something that a lot of people struggle to maintain and interpret. There is a lot of science behind eye contact and the author was basically just explaining all of the science behind it. Personality, environment, and biology can affect how an individual reacts to eye contact and how much eye contact that individual maintains. The author also mentions how cell phones are inhibiting people’s ability to communicate with each other as well as making eye contact less and less common.
Key Takeaways:
- With the use of eye-tracking technology, Julia Minson of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government concluded that eye contact can signal very different kinds of messages, depending on the situation.
- For some, eye contact tunes the brain into a mode that increases the likelihood of initiating an interaction with other people. For others, the effect of eye contact may decrease this likelihood.
- With people these days so often looking down at their phones during a conversation, eye contact can be an even more powerful way to communicate with others.
“While eye contact may be a sign of connection or trust in friendly situations, it’s more likely to be associated with dominance or intimidation in adversarial situations.”