Because new research from the U.K. shows that the perfect amount of time to stare at someone is about 3.3 seconds. Any longer or shorter and you'll creep them out, the study suggests.
During the test, the movement of their eyes and the size of their pupils were recorded with eye-tracking technology. On average, participants had a "preferred gaze duration" of 3.3 seconds, give or take 0.7 seconds. That's a pretty narrow band for someone on their first date!
Prolonged eye contact can cause attraction
A study published in the Journal of Research and Personality in which two opposite sex strangers were asked to gaze into each other's eyes for two minutes found that this was enough in some cases to produce passionate feelings for each other.
Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo recently performed it on 20 people, and found that gazing deeply into someone's eyes can alter consciousness, produce hallucinations and create feelings of dissociation.
To avoid this, you should use the 3-second rule, which means that you should make eye contact with each person or group for about 3 seconds before moving on to the next one. This way, you can show interest and attention without being intrusive or awkward.
The power of eye contact
Longer eye contact (e.g., 3–7 seconds) can signal interest or attraction, but it can imply aggression if someone's gaze is held for too long (e.g., 10 seconds or more).
Meanwhile, Noah Zandan, CEO of communication skills improvement platform Quantified Communications, said optimum eye contact should be somewhere in the 60% to 70% range. That means making “more eye contact than feels natural,” given that adults only tend to look directly at each other between 30% and 60% of the time.
On average, participants reported feeling uncomfortable when the actor's gaze exceeded or stopped short of 3.3 seconds. This isn't a physiological response, but rather, an unwritten social norm.
The world record for staring — not blinking once — is 57 minutes and 24 seconds, set by a Chinese naval serviceman in 2015. That is no easy feat! The clear outer dome of the eye, or cornea, is the most sensitive part of the human body.
Individuals establish prolonged and intense eye contact when engaging in an intimate gaze. This gaze typically occurs during intimate moments, such as romantic interactions or deep emotional conversations. The intimate gaze allows individuals to convey feelings of closeness, trust, and vulnerability.
Some studies show that intense eye contact can actually stimulate sexual arousal. People like feeling seen and understood. Intense or prolonged eye contact helps people feel seen and can make them feel confident and even aroused.
Eye contact is so powerful a force because it is connected with humans' earliest survival patterns. Children who could attract and maintain eye contact, and therefore increase attention, had the best chance of being fed and cared for. Today, newborns instinctively lock eyes with their caregivers.
A new study has found that thetime needed for a man to fall in love at first sight is 8.2 seconds -- in fact,the longer a man's gaze rests on a woman when they meet for the first time, themore interested he is. And, ifit lasts just four seconds, he may not be all that impressed.
Eye contact is a subtle but strong sign. If she holds eye contact with you, that could be a sign she's interested. Let's say you're in a social setting and a woman across the room looks at you. If she looks at you and then instantly turns away, it may be because she is shy or doesn't want to get caught looking at you.
Basically, undivided and prolonged eye contact can convey that he is more interested in you than you are saying or whatever is happening around you. Maintaining eye contact throughout your interaction with a guy can send a clear message that you are interested in him and pay attention to what he is saying or doing.
Compulsive staring is a particularly under-represented form of OCD, but it's just as valid as other types and is defined by the same pattern of excessive intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that can cause repetitive, and sometimes irrational, behaviors (compulsions).
It most likely means they find you attractive and are checking you out. They might be trying to look for an opening to approach you. If this continues for a while, there is a chance they are still mustering up the courage to approach you. If you find the person attractive too, look back when you see them staring.
People often stare out of curiosity. We are all curious when we see something new or someone different. Although it can make us feel uncomfortable, people often do this by accident, without meaning to. Not everyone will have met or seen someone who has a visible difference before.
How long is flirty eye contact? Eye contact that lasts beyond 4-5 seconds can show a person's interest in you and may be perceived as flirty eye contact. To be more sure if the person is really into you, try to find any other cues besides just eye contact that would strengthen your assumption.
Where someone's gaze falls could indicate almost instantly whether attraction is based on feelings of love or of lust. Scientists say if the gaze is focused on a stranger's face, then love is possible, but if the gaze focuses more on the stranger's body, then the attraction is more sexual in nature.
Eyes are considered to be the best way to relay your feelings for a person. Many say, that one look is enough to know whether you're in love or not. Eyes are one of the first things a person notices about someone, so, it makes complete sense when we say eye contact leads to an array of love affairs.
This is when someone looks at you and just keeps looking at you past the normal “look away” moment. This is a solid 2-3 seconds of eye contact without them breaking it. When undesired, this becomes the infamous “creep stare.” But in the cases of desirable people looking at you, this is extremely good news.
When a guy stares into your eyes and doesn't look away, he may be trying to size you up. Intently staring can be a good thing and might mean that he likes what he sees. Research indicates that in many cases of prolonged eye contact, both parties are interested in each other or maybe aroused.
Maintain eye contact 50% of the time
When you're having a discussion with someone, use the 50/70 rule. This means you should hold eye contact between 50%–70% of the time. Maintain this amount of eye contact both while you are talking and while you are listening.
Like touch, eye contact triggers the release of oxytocin. When someone is attracted to you, they subconsciously will try engaging in lots of mutual eye contact. They do this to feel closer to you, and because they are interested in you and what you are saying.