Oculesics refers to the study of eye contact and pupil dilation in terms of nonverbal

communication. Eye contact indicates interest, opennesss, and sometimes even

arousal, though aggressive eye contact--or staring--can be interpreted as a sign of
hostility. In addition to this, lack of eye contact also transmits a message,
oftentimes that the listener is bored and/or is not paying attention. It must be noted
that culture plays a role in oculesics, for the necessity of eye contact and the civility
it provides in American culture differs greatly from an Asian culture, for example,
where eye contact is often considered rude (DeFleur, 2005).

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/socialinteraction-5/types-of-social-interaction-51/eye-contact-324-3186/

Dimensions of Oculesics

Eyecontact is one aspect of oculesics. The others are pupil dilation, eye movement, blinking,
and gaze direction.

There are four aspects involved with oculesics:[5]

Dimension 1: Eye Contact

There are two levels of eyecontact:[1]

Direct eye contact

Indirect eye contact

Dimension 2: Eye Movement

EyeMovement occurs voluntarily or involuntarily. It can include changing eye direction,

changing focus, or following objects with the eyes.[6]
Dimension 3: Pupil Dilation

Pupillary response

Pupillaryresponse is change in the size of the pupil, voluntarily or involuntarily. This

change happens at the appearance of real or perceived new objects of focus, and even at
the real or perceived indication of such appearances[7]
Dimension 4: Gaze Direction

Gazing deals with communicating and feeling intense desire with the eye, voluntarily or
involuntarily.[8]

Theorists and Studies

Many theorists and studies are associated with nonverbal communication, to include
oculesics.
Ray Birdwhistell

Professor RayBirdwhistell was one of the earliest theorists of nonverbal communication.

As an anthropologist, he created the term kinesics, and defined it as communication and
perceived meaning from facialexpressions and body gestures.[9]
Birdwhistell spent over fifty years analyzing kinesics. He wrote two books on the subject: Introduction to Kinesics (1952) and Kinesics and Context (1970). He also created films of

people communicating and studied their methods of nonverbal communication in slow-motion. He published his results as attempts to make general translations of gestures and expressions, 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. PaulEkman is a psychologist with over five decades experience researching nonverbal 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 LietoMe, 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 Duchennesmile" (named after GuillaumeDuchenne), which relates to involuntary
movements of the orbicularisoculi,parsorbitalis 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

Dr. W. Gerrod Parrott is a Professor of Psychology at GeorgetownUniversity in Washington,D.C. His focus is on human emotions and how they affect thought processes.
[19] In his paper Positioning and the Emotions, he discusses the concept of counter-argument, in which a communicator projects an emotion to a receiver in an attempt to elicit a
specific emotion, but the receiver instead projects a different emotion to deflect or disrupt
the original intentions of the communicator.[20] Oculesics can play a major part in these
emotional projection strategies.
Robert Plutchik

Professor RobertPlutchik (21 October 1927 - 29 April 2006) was a psychologist who specialized 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 expressions," which look for connections between expressions in the eye along with expressions
from the forehead and mouth.[24]
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of therapy created by

Dr. FrancineShapiro to help treat conditions such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).[25][26] EMDR uses eye movement to communicate within the subject in an attempt to re-create meaning and processing of past traumatic events.[27]

Communicating Emotions

In the book Human Emotions, author Carroll Ellis Izard says "a complete definition of emotionmust 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.
Oculesics is a primary form of communicating emotion.[29] The study of Neurolinguistic
Programming (NLP) establishes three main types of thinking: in terms of what you see, hear
or feel. According to this science, oculesics can show which type of thinking someone is
using when they are communicating. [30] A person thinking visually might physically turn
their eyes away, as if to look at an imagined presentation of what they are thinking, even to

the point of changing the focus of their eyes. Someone thinking in terms of hearing might
turn their eyes as much as possible to one of their ears. A person thinking in terms of what
they feel could look downwards, as if looking toward their emotion coming from their body.
[30]

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: Contrastingandcategorizationofemotions

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 referenced 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/distress, 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'sWheelof
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:
Emotions w/ eye summary:[34]

Anxiety - wetness or moisture in the eyes

Anger - eyes glaring and wide open
Boredom - eyes not focused, or focused on something else
Desire - eyes wide, dilation of pupils
Disgust - rapid turning away of eyes
Envy - glaring
Fear - eyes could be wide, or looking downward (could also be closed)
Happiness - "glittery" look to eyes, wrinkled at the sides
Interest - intense focus, perhaps squinting

Pity - heavy gaze to eyes, moisture in eyes

Sadness - tears in eyes, looking downward (also possible sleepless

appearance[35])
Shame - eyes looking down while head is turned down
Surprise - eyes wide open

Eye behaviors with emotional summaries:[36]

Eyes up - Different people look up for different reasons. Some look up

when they are thinking. Others perform that action in an effort to recall
something from their memory. It may also be a way for people to
subconsciously display boredom. The head position can also come into play,
however, as an upwards look with a lowered head can be a coy, suggestive
action.

Eyes down - Avoiding eye contact, or looking down, can be a sign of

submission or fear. It may also indicate that someone feels guilt. However,
depending on the culture of the person, it may also just be a sign of respect.

Lateral movement of eyes - Looking away from the person to whom

one is speaking could be a sign that something else has taken their interest.
It may also mean that a person is easily distracted. Looking to the left can
mean that a person is trying to remember sound, while the right can mean
that the person is actually imagining the sound. Side to side movement,
however, can indicate that a person is lying.

Gazing - Staring at someone means that a person shows sincere interest.

Staring at a person's lips can indicate that someone wants to kiss another
person. In general, staring means, "I want that."

Glancing - Glancing can show a person's true desires. For instance,

glancing at a door might mean that someone wants to leave. Glancing at a
glass of water might mean that a person is thirsty.

Eye contact - Eye contact is powerful and shows sincere interest if it is

unbroken. A softening of the stare can indicate sexual desire. Breaking that
eye contact can be threatening to the person who does not break the eye
contact.

Staring - Staring is more than just eye contact, it usually involves eyes
wider than normal. A lack of blinking may indicate more interest, but it also
may indicate a stronger feeling than a person may intend to portray.
Prolonged eye contact can be aggressive, affectionate, or deceptive.

Following with the eyes - Eyes follow movement naturally. If a person is

interested in someone, then their eyes will follow that person naturally.

Squinting - Squinting of the eyes may mean a person is trying to obtain a

closer look. It may also mean that a person is considering whether something
is true or not. Liars may use squinting as a tool to keep others from detecting
their dishonesty. Of course, squinting may also just be a result of a bright
sun.

Blinking - Blinking is also a natural response that can occur for no other
reason than having dry eyes. It can also be the result of a person feeling
greater levels of stress. Rapid blinking can indicate arrogance while reduced
blinking can move towards a stare.

Winking - Winking can indicate that two people understand something

without using words. It can mean "hello" or it can be a sign of flirtation.

Closing of eyes - Closing the eyes serves to shut out the world. It can be
a reaction to fear or embarrassment. Others may close their eyes as a way to
think more sincerely about a particular subject.

Eye moisture - Tears obviously indicate sadness, but moisture also has a
more practical purpose to wash and clean the eyes. Damp eyes can be
suppressed crying or an expression of extreme happiness or laughter. Men, in
many cultures, are not expected to cry but may experience damp eyes in
place of crying.

Pupil dilation - Pupil dilation may be harder to detect by most people.

Sexual desire may be a cause of such dilation. It may also be an indication of
attraction. Physiologically, eyes dilate when it is darker to let in more light.

Rubbing of eyes - Eyes may water, causing a person to rub their own
eyes. This can happen when a person feels uncomfortable or tired. It may
also happen when a person simply has something in their eyes.

Cultural Impact
Cultural Differences in Nonverbal Communication

In his essay The Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), Dr. W.Barnett Pearce discusses how people derive meaning in communication based on reference points gained or
passed down to them culturally.[37]
Winston Bremback said, To know anothers language and not his culture is a good way to
make a fluent fool of ones self. [38] Culture in this sense, includes all of the nonverbal communication, 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 communication at the same time. In fact, the first couple of years of a childs life are spent learning 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 communication styles within their own culture, but they also assume that individuals from other cultures also communicate in the same way that they do. This is a phenomenon called projected similarity.[40] The result of projected similarity is that misperceptions, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings occur in cross-cultural interactions when a person interprets
anothers 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 obviously 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 sometimes understanding each other because of their varying eye behavior, nonverbal cues, and
cultural and personal differences.[38]
Stereotypes in Cultural Differences

It is because of these personal differences, that in studying cultural communication patterns

we sometimes find it necessary to speak in stereotypes and generalizations. Just as one
might say that Puerto Ricans who speak Spanish tend to use a louder voice than others
communicating at the same distance, it would not be fair to say that all Puerto Ricans exhibit the same qualities. There are obviously enormous variations within each culture. These
variations can depend on age, gender, geographical location, race, socioeconomic status,
and personality. Because there are so many factors to study, most are generally glossed
over in favor of stereotypes and generalizations.[40]
Some Oculesic Findings from around the World

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 individuals 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 diverse 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 patients brain functions on a particular day.[38]
Latin American Culture vs. Anglo Saxon Culture

There are many differences between Anglo Saxon culture and Latino/Latin American cultures, both in the way the two groups interact with each other as well as the way they interact with members of other cultural groups. Besides the obvious language differences, nonverbal communication is the most noticeable difference between the two groups. Specifically 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 persons eyes and then immediately allow his or her eyes to wander when speaking. In traditional Anglo Saxon culture, averting the eyes in such a way usually portrays a lack of confidence, 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 Anglos 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 individuals 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]

Western Pacific Nations

Many western Pacific nations share much of the same cultural customs. Children, for instance, 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]
East Asia and Northern Africa

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 UnitedStates, eye contact may serve as a regulating gesture and is typically related
to issues of respect, attentiveness, and honesty in the American culture. Americans associate direct eye contact with forthrightness and trustworthiness.[44]
Dealing With Cultural Differences

So how do you deal with these cultural differences? How does one recognize to which culture 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 successful because they observe the unconscious actions of others. Sometimes an individuals
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 behaviors 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 individuals 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 constantly 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 discomfort 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 accept others and their styles of living.[4