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Oculesics: Influence Social Behavior Oculesics Social Interactions Information Contexts Intimacy
Oculesics: Influence Social Behavior Oculesics Social Interactions Information Contexts Intimacy
Oculesics: Influence Social Behavior Oculesics Social Interactions Information Contexts Intimacy
Oculesics
People can typically tell individuals who are angry from those who are
nervous from those who are confident by what they do with their eyes.
Furrowed brows or rolling of the eyes typically constitute impatience, anger
or defiance. Looking down or batting the eyes typifies nervousness, while
continuing to look at someone and simultaneously shutting the mouth
signals compliance with self-confidence.
Eye Movement
Squarely looking someone in the eye connotes self-confidence. A
confident, engaging public speaker instills confidence in his audience.
Continually looking down while speaking either one-on-one or publicly
purveys a feeling of nervousness, or lack of confidence. Notice how
uncomfortable a person who won't make eye-contact with you makes you
feel. It conveys a feeling of disquiet, or even distrust.
Politicians who lie while looking straight into the camera cause many
individuals to almost believe them -- up until the teary-eyed truthful press
conference. Oculesics not only studies the person communicating, but the
person listening as well. Eye contact of the person listening helps gauge the
response.
Eye contact is the meeting of the eyes between two individuals. In humans, eye contact is a form of
nonverbal communication and has a large influence on social behavior. The study of eye contact is
sometimes known as oculesics.
Eye contact provides a way in which one can study social interactions, as it provides indications of
social and emotional information. People, perhaps without consciously doing so, probe each other's
eyes and faces for signs of positive or negative mood. In some contexts, the meeting of eyes arouses
strong emotions. Eye contact can establish a sense of intimacy between two individuals, such as the
gazes of lovers or the eye contact involved in flirting. Alternatively, avoiding eye contact can establish
distance between people. When in crowds, people tend to avoid eye contact in order to maintain privacy.
The customs and significance of eye contact vary widely between cultures, with religious and social
differences often altering its meaning greatly. According to the tenets of the Islamic faith, Muslims ought
to lower their gazes and try not to focus on the features of the opposite sex, except for the hands and
face. Japanese children are taught to direct their gaze at the region of their teacher's Adam's apple or tie
knot. As adults, Japanese tend to lower their eyes when speaking to a superior as a gesture of respect.
In Eastern Africa, it is respectful not to look the dominant person in the eye, whereas such avoidance of
eye contact is negatively interpreted in Western cultures. As with all forms of social interaction that impart
social significance, eye contact is culturally determined.
Source: Boundless. “Eye Contact.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 08 Aug. 2016. Retrieved 23 Aug.
2016 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/social-
interaction-5/types-of-social-interaction-51/eye-contact-324-3186/
Dimensions of Oculesics
Eye contact is one aspect of oculesics. The others are pupil dilation, eye movement, blinking,
and gaze direction.
Pupillary response
Gazing deals with communicating and feeling intense desire with the eye, voluntarily or
involuntarily.[8]
Many theorists and studies are associated with nonverbal communication, to include
oculesics.
Ray Birdwhistell
Birdwhistell spent over fifty years analyzing kinesics. He wrote two books on the subject: In-
troduction to Kinesics (1952) and Kinesics and Context (1970). He also created films of
people communicating and studied their methods of nonverbal communication in slow-mo-
tion. He published his results as attempts to make general translations of gestures and ex-
pressions, although he later acknowledged it was impossible to equate each form of body
language with a specific meaning.[10]
Birdwhistell's study of oculesics was greatly enhanced by his use of film. In one study, he
would film specifically in which directions and at what objects children looked as they
learned activities from their parents.[11]
Paul Ekman
Dr. Paul Ekman is a psychologist with over five decades experience researching nonver-
bal communication, especially with facial expressions. He has written, co-authored and
edited over a dozen books, and published over 100 articles on the subject.[12] He also
served as an advisor for the television show Lie to Me, and currently works with the Dalai
Lama on increasing awareness of the influence of emotion on behavior to help people
reach peace of mind.[13][14]
Dr. Ekman's work in facial expressions includes studies looking for connections between
oculesics and other facial movements,[15] eye behavior and physically covering the eyes
when recalling personal traumatic events,[16] and on his self-coined phrase,
"the Duchenne smile" (named after Guillaume Duchenne), which relates to involuntary
movements of the orbicularis oculi, pars orbitalis when smiling sincerely.[17] Most
prominently, oculesics play a major role in the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which is
a microexpression database created by Dr. Ekman and his colleagues.[18]
W. Gerrod Parrott
Robert Plutchik
Professor Robert Plutchik (21 October 1927 - 29 April 2006) was a psychologist who spe-
cialized in communicating emotion with expressions and gestures.[21][22] Many of his arti-
cles and books discuss the influence of emotion on nonverbal communication as well as the
effect of those expressions and gestures back onto emotions.[23]
Professor Plutchik's work on oculesics includes studies on the "synthesis of facial expres-
sions," which look for connections between expressions in the eye along with expressions
from the forehead and mouth.[24]
Communicating Emotions
In the book Human Emotions, author Carroll Ellis Izard says "a complete definition of emo-
tionmust take into account all three of these aspects or components: (a) the experience or
conscious feeling of emotion, (b) the processes that occur in the brain and nervous system,
and (c) the observable expressive patterns of emotion, particularly those on the face" (p. 4).
[28] This third component is where oculesics plays a role in nonverbal communication of
emotion.
Whether or not someone intends to send a particular meaning, or someone else perceives
meaning correctly, the exchange of communication happens and can initiate emotion. It is
important to understand these dynamics, because we often establish relationships (on small
and grand scales) with oculesics.[29]
Lists of Emotions
Main article: Contrasting and categorization of emotions
There are many theories on how to annotate a specific list of emotions. Two prominent
methodologies come from Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. Robert Plutchik (both professors are ref-
erenced above as well).
Dr. Ekman states there are 15 basic emotions- amusement, anger, contempt, contentment,
disgust, embarrassment, excitement, fear, guilt, pride in achievement, relief, sadness/dis-
tress, satisfaction, sensory pleasure, and shame- with each of these fifteen stemming out to
similar and related sub-emotions.[31]
Dr. Plutchik says there are eight basic emotions which have eight opposite emotions, all of
which create human feelings (which also have opposites). He created Plutchik's Wheel of
Emotions to demonstrate this theory.[32]
Perceptions and displays of emotions vary across time and culture. Some theorists say that
even with these differences, there can be generally accepted "truths" about oculesics, such
as the theory that constant eye contact between two people is physically and mentally
uncomfortable.[33]
The following emotions and their associated eye behaviors come from Changing
Minds.org:
In his essay The Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), Dr. W.Barnett Pearce dis-
cusses how people derive meaning in communication based on reference points gained or
passed down to them culturally.[37]
Winston Bremback said, “To know another’s language and not his culture is a good way to
make a fluent fool of one’s self.” [38] Culture in this sense, includes all of the nonverbal com-
munication, customs, thought, speech and artifacts that make a group of people unique.
[39]Brembeck knew of the significant role that communication plays besides language.
While most of the nonverbal communication is conveyed subconsciously, there are cultural
similarities that enable us to understand the difference between what is being said and what
is actually meant. But generalizing between nonverbal communication between cultures can
be tricky since there are as many cultural differences in nonverbal communication as there
are languages in the world.[38]
While it may take a child a couple of years to speak understandably in a certain language, it
is important to remember that the child is also learning the idiosyncrasies of nonverbal com-
munication at the same time. In fact, the first couple of years of a child’s life are spent learn-
ing most of these nonverbals. The differences between cultures are thus ingrained at the
very earliest points of development.
Projected Similarity
Anthropologists have proven for years that nonverbal communication styles vary by culture.
Most people, however, are not only oblivious to the differences in these nonverbal commu-
nication styles within their own culture, but they also assume that individuals from other cul-
tures also communicate in the same way that they do. This is a phenomenon called pro-
jected similarity.[40] The result of projected similarity is that misperceptions, misinterpreta-
tions, and misunderstandings occur in cross-cultural interactions when a person interprets
another’s non- verbal communication in the light of his or her own cultural norms.[40]
While all nonverbal communication differs greatly among cultures, perhaps none is so obvi-
ously different as the movement and study of eye contact. A particular nonverbal interaction
between two individuals can have completely different meaning in different cultures. Even
within that same culture, oculesics plays a tremendous role in obtaining meaning from other
nonverbal cues. This is why, even among the same culture, humans still have trouble some-
times understanding each other because of their varying eye behavior, nonverbal cues, and
cultural and personal differences.[38]
As previously discussed, the effect that eye movement has on human behavior has been
widely studied. In some cultures, however, this study actually allows for insights into individ-
uals whose only way of communication is by nonverbal means. Studies show that eye be-
havior shows special patterns with mental patients, autistic children, and persons from di-
verse cultures.[38] In some countries, doctors use the study of oculesics to test stimulation
among patients and interest levels in children who are not as expressive verbally. While lack
of eye contact in many cultures can signal either disinterest or respect, depending on the
culture of the individual, it may be an insight into a mental patient’s brain functions on a par-
ticular day.[38]
There are many differences between Anglo Saxon culture and Latino/Latin American cul-
tures, both in the way the two groups interact with each other as well as the way they inter-
act with members of other cultural groups. Besides the obvious language differences, non-
verbal communication is the most noticeable difference between the two groups. Specifi-
cally within nonverbal communication, eye contact and eye behavior can actually help one
differentiate between the cultural backgrounds of two individuals by looking at nothing but
their eyes.
Sociologists have found that Anglos tend to look steadily and intently into the eyes of the
person to whom they are speaking. Latinos will look into the eyes of the person to whom
they are speaking, but only in a fleeting way.[40] The Latino tends to look into the other per-
son’s eyes and then immediately allow his or her eyes to wander when speaking. In tradi-
tional Anglo Saxon culture, averting the eyes in such a way usually portrays a lack of confi-
dence, certainty, or truthfulness.[40] However, in the Latino culture, direct or prolonged eye
contact means that you are challenging the individual with whom you are speaking or that
you have a romantic interest in the person.[40]
Imagine the confusion that this slight difference can cause in professional situations such as
an interview. If an Anglo Saxon individual was interviewing a Latino for a position and found
the person to be lacking confidence because of their lack of eye contact, the Latino would
lose out on the employment opportunity solely because of the cultural differences. Imagine,
also, how uncomfortable the Latino would feel during the interview because he or she may
interpret the Anglo’s direct eye contact as expressing disapproval. These kinds of cultural
differences occur every day and cause unnecessary mixed signals to be sent because of
the lack of knowledge of another individual’s culture.
Muslim Culture
In the Islamic faith, most Muslims lower heads and try not to focus on the opposite sex's
features except for the hands and face. This is a show of respect but also a cultural rule
which enforces Islamic law. Lustful glances to those of the opposite sex are also prohibited.
[41]
Many western Pacific nations share much of the same cultural customs. Children, for in-
stance, are taught in school to direct their eyes to their teacher's Adam's apple or tie knot.
This continues through adulthood, as most Asian cultures lower their eyes when speaking to
a superior as a gesture of respect.[42]
In many East Asian and north African cultures such as Nigeria,[6] it is also respectful not to
look the dominant person in the eye. The seeking of constant unbroken eye contact by the
other participant in a conversation can often be considered overbearing or distracting- even
in western cultures.[43]
United States
In the United States, eye contact may serve as a regulating gesture and is typically related
to issues of respect, attentiveness, and honesty in the American culture. Americans associ-
ate direct eye contact with forthrightness and trustworthiness.[44]
So how do you deal with these cultural differences? How does one recognize to which cul-
ture a particular person identifies so that he or she will infer correctly all of the nonverbal
cues associated with that culture? From such a potentially complicated question comes a
relatively simple answer. Study, listen and learn. Communicators and leaders become suc-
cessful because they observe the unconscious actions of others. Sometimes an individual’s
actions are the result of their culture or upbringing and sometimes they are the result of the
emotion or feeling they are portraying. Keen communicators are able to tell the difference
between the two and effectively communicate based on their observations. Oculesics is not
a standalone science. Combining the information obtained from eye movements and behav-
iors with other nonverbal cues such as Haptics, Kinesics, or Olfactics will lend the observer
to a much more well rounded and accurate portrait of an individual’s behavior.[40]
Social scientists teach that individuals need to first become consciously aware of their own
culture before being able to interpret differences among other cultures. In learning about our
own culture, we learn how we are different from the cultures of those around us. Only then,
will we become aware of the differences among the cultures of others. Finally, we should
undergo acculturation,[40] that is, borrow attributes from other cultures that will help us
function effectively without in any way having to relinquish our own cultural identities. In
Nonverbal Communication, Nine-Curt stresses that “we should develop, refine, and con-
stantly practice the skill of switching cultural channels, as on a TV set, in order to be able to
interact with people from other cultures, and often with people from subcultures within our
own, more effectively. This is indispensable if we are to avoid the pain, frustration, and dis-
comfort that usually accompany trying to move and live in a culture different from our own.
As we become proficient in this skill, we will find it less difficult and highly satisfying to ac-
cept others and their styles of living.[4