Good Eye Contact Does The Reverse Of What You Think It Does [Study]

It used to be that good eye contact separated the strong from the weak, or the assertive go-getter from the easily intimated milquetoast. It still kind of does that, but instead of good eye contact strictly being a sign of strength, persuasion and confidence, it’s viewed as off-putting and even a little creepy nowadays.

A study performed by researchers in Germany seems to contradict popular understandings about eye contact, NPR reports. For the study, they polled university students regarding their opinions on controversial issues like assisted suicide, nuclear energy and affirmative action.

They had students watch Internet videos of individuals talking about these controversies, and tracked their eye contact. They found that students looked into the eyes of the speakers only when they greed with their perspective. They avoided eye contact when they were neutral or flat-out disagreed.

“Persuaders may mis-attribute returned gaze to their persuasion skills,” the researchers said.

Interestingly, when students were asked to look directly into the speakers’ eyes whether they agreed or disagreed, they said that they were less likely to change their opinions given direct eye contact.

A second, larger study was performed to reduce the possibility of other factors influencing the first test group. The results were largely the same in the second, larger group.

“Eye contact is clearly used in many situations to signal attraction, love and even agreement,” said Frances Chen, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia and lead author of the study.

Chen advises “persuasive” speakers think twice about locking eyes, and to be sensitive to a listener’s emotional state. “If they’re already avoiding eye contact with you, especially if you’re saying something potentially threatening to them, maybe think twice before insisting that they make eye contact with you.”

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