From: Chicago Tribune

Too much eye contact could be why we’re not seeing eye to eye

Chicago Tribune:

Like most Americans, I haven’t looked up from my smartphone since 2007. I’ve evolved a nice set of sensitive, molelike whiskers that allow me to navigate around things like walls, other humans or automobiles.

But there are still times when I’m forced into human interaction, and I’ve wondered — between Facebook posts — if not making eye contact is hampering my communication skills. After all, my dad always said it’s best to look a person in the eyes when speaking.

A new study I read on my phone while mole-whiskering along the edge of a building found that making eye contact can make you less persuasive. The research — published in the journal Psychological Science — found that “increasing eye contact may be counterproductive” and might “make listeners less receptive to both the message and the messenger.”

Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune


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