Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Social Encounters - Research continued

Michael Argyle and Janet Dean

Eye Contact, Distance and Affiliation

During social interaction, people look each other in the eye, repeatedly but for short periods. When glances are longer than this (about 3-10 seconds) anxiety is aroused. Without eye contact, people do not feel that they are fully in communication. Simmel has described it as 'a wholly new and unique union between two people', and remarked that it 'represents the most perfect reciprocity in the entire field of human relationship (Simmel, 1921).

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