Imagine a situation where you are walking home from school and you see a person you do not like interacting with coming your way. You have eye contact for about thirty seconds, and you decide to walk in the opposite direction, pretending you did not see the individual. The dilemma that must be resolved revolves around the fact that some people can read facial expressions and know the intentions of others within seconds.
Today, I will be talking about eye contact – the most critical interpersonal communication skill that people possess. While most of you may appear to no more about verbal communication, it is also necessary that you understand the role of eye contact in face-to-face interaction. As an extrovert, I am particularly concerned with forming social bonds with people from diverse backgrounds and I believe the information on eye contact will benefit everyone. Therefore, eye contact is a powerful tool of interpersonal communication because it encourages attentiveness, foster connections and is essential for the development of social bonds.
Firstly, eye contact during a conversation is important because it shows and encourages assertiveness. It is common in interpersonal communication for two individuals to gaze at each other’s eyes, especially when it is another person’s turn to speak. As explicated in Wohltjen and Wheatley’s (2021) study, eye contact tends to increase assertiveness. Therefore, it is more likely that this skill will ensure that participants derive meaning and make sense of their face-to-face communication. However, Wohltjen and Wheatley (2021) further note that although eye contact is common in conversations, it is only brief and can last for even a second. This is a clear indication that eye contact is bound to occur randomly as a way of maximizing both participants’ attention.
Secondly, eye contact is a powerful visual measure for fostering strong connections among people. According to Jiang et al. (2017), it has a significant impact on two of the four senses of communication, vision and hearing, with each triggering a different response. It is important to note that listening keenly without occasional eye contact increases the chances for misinterpretation. In other words, eye contact helps a lot in interpreting facial expressions, especially when two people are involved in a more-focused conversation. Overall, eye contact enhances comprehension which, in the end, improves two-way interaction.
Lastly, eye contact is essential for the development of social bonds. This means that as soon as an individual makes eye contact with another, similar neurons get activated in their brains. For example, if the eyes of one person are expressing sadness, another individual’s neurons will also signal the same experience (Wever et al. (2022). This is the case because eyes are considered a window to the soul where a lot of information is stored. Therefore, this study shows clearly an extended exposure to ever-changing facial stimuli, in the end, leads to high levels of emotional involvement from the receiver to the sender.
In conclusion, I believe all of you can agree that eye contact play an important role in our daily interactions, especially since it allows an individual to receive a specific message from the sender. Therefore, the next time you interact with someone, you should be able to attach meaning to every eye contact. For instance, a facial expression might indicate that the other person require your input in the conversation. In essence, understanding the importance of communication is significant since it ensures people become aware of what is happening around them.
References
Jiang, J., Borowiak, K., Tudge, L., Otto, C., & von Kriegstein, K. (2017). Neural mechanisms of eye contact when listening to another person talking. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(2), 319-328. Web.
Wever, M. C., van Houtum, L. A., Janssen, L. H., Wentholt, W. G., Spruit, I. M., Tollenaar, M. S., Geert-Jan, W., &Elzinga, B. M. (2022). Neural and affective responses to prolonged eye contact with one’s own adolescent child and unfamiliar others. NeuroImage, 260, 1-12. Web.
Wohltjen, S., & Wheatley, T. (2021). Eye contact marks the rise and fall of shared attention in conversation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(37), 1-8. Web.