Eye contact is one of the most important gestures of communication. But let’s be honest, do you ever find it really difficult to look people in the eye when having a conversation?
Is it because of shyness, or because of lack of confidence? In fact, both of those factors are only part of the story. Science has proven that basically anyone will be embarrassed to look someone in the eye , because the brain forces us to.
Specifically, this is the idea given in a study by Kyoto University (Japan) in 2016. Accordingly, the brain can’t actually think about the words to be said at the same time and still focus on the face. and the other person’s eyes.
The experiment was performed on 26 volunteers. All were asked to participate in a word game while staring at a face that appeared on a computer screen.
The results showed that when trying to make eye contact, candidates found it harder to come up with relevant words.
“Although eyes and language are two seemingly independent processes of thought, most of us try to avoid the other’s gaze when we talk. This proves there’s something in between.” – said research report.
In the experiment, volunteers were observed looking straight ahead and looking the other way. And when it’s not “eye to eye” , they play more efficiently, have shorter thinking time, but are especially clear with difficult words. According to experts, the longer time may be because the brain has to process too much information at the same time.
It’s difficult to talk while looking into each other’s eyes
Of course, making eye contact while communicating can still be done through practice, but this study also shows that human perception can be viewed as pooling in a pool, and sometimes a pool. That storage can be drained when doing too many things at once.
This study was very small, so further evidence will be needed in the future. But even so, this is still a very interesting hypothesis about the stress response to eye contact with other people.
In 2015, a study in Italy also suggested a similar hypothesis. At that time, psychologist Giovanni Caputo did an experiment, showing that just looking into someone’s eyes for 10 minutes is enough to cause psychological disturbance. The cause is thought to be due to a process called “neuroadaptation” – which occurs when the brain gradually changes its response to a constant hormone over time. For example, if you put your hand on the table and keep it there, gradually you won’t feel like you’re actually touching the table anymore.