Eye contact and the perception of intelligence

Abstract

The perception of intelligence as a function of nonverbal cues was investigated in college students. Thirty undergraduate psychology majors estimated the GPAs of 20 upper division undergraduates based on their nonverbal behavior during a videotaped, career objectives interview. Significant relationships were found between estimated GPAs and two nonverbal behaviors: duration of eye contact and frequency of eye shifts. These nonverbal behaviors appear to be substantive mediators of the perception of an individual's intellectual facility during an interview.The relationship between nonverbal cues and the perception of intelligence has been of interest to those who use such cues in evaluating an individual during an interview. Fear (1978) noted that the first 4 min of an interview typically determines its outcome; within this narrow time period, interviewers process and evaluate the potential of the person interviewed. The rapid nature of decision making on the part of an interviewer suggests that evaluative judgments are greatly influenced by the nonverbal style and characteristics of the interviewee , rather than actual verbal content of the message conveyed during dyadic interaction.Eye contact has been viewed as a highly potent source of nonverbal communication. Cook (1977) found that eye contact or aversion was an important variable that regulates discourse between two individuals. It is apparently a major determinant of enhanced credibility and one of the first nonverbal cues noticed by an interviewer (Beebe , 1977). Several studies have attempted to document the relationship between eye contact and decision making during simulated employment situations. For example, Amalfitano and Kalt (1977) and Tankard (1970) found that photographs of perspective job applicants who exhibited greater eye contact toward a camera were rated higher as management trainees than applicants whose eyes averted the camera . Similarly, Imada and Hakel (1977) described a general nonverbal constellation involving eye contact, smiling, gestures, and attentive body posture that produced consistently favorable ratings by interviewers. They noted that when these nonverbal cues were present, the job applicant was characteristically described as a warm , enthusiastic, and likable person by raters and, as a result , recommended for the position.Thus , eye contact may be a dominant nonverbal cue that suggests a positive emotional state. In addition to transmitting positive effect , eye contact may also mediate the perception of cognitive skills that would influence the interviewer's subjective rating of an interviewee's intellectual capacity. This study was performed in an attempt to determine the extent to which eye contact and a number of other nonverbal behaviors (smiling, head nods , arm gestures, eyebrow movement) influence the perception of intelligence (as indicated by estimates of academic grade point average, GPA) during a videotaped simulated personnel interview . METHOD SubjectsThirty undergraduate psychology majors (18 female, 12 ...

Expert Witness Credibility as a Function of Eye Contact Behavior and Gender

“…Eye contact has been found to be a salient nonverbal behavior that has a substantial impact on receivers (Brooks et al, 2001;Hemsley & Doob, 1978;Wheeler et al, 1979). Eye contact has been shown to be differentially perceived when men and women enact the same looking-behaviors: only men have been perceived more positively as the amount of eye contact increased (Aguinis & Henle, 2001;Brooks et al, 2001).…”

“…Frequency of eye shifts and duration of eye contact were the only two nonverbal behaviors found to be mediators of the perceptions of an individual's intelligence during an interview (Wheeler et al, 1979). A study by Brooks et al in 2001 found that as eye contact increases, people are perceived as more assertive, dominant, decisive, and aggressive.…”

Measuring the stare-in-the-crowd effect: a new paradigm to study social perception

“…Human response to others looking at them is generally positive (except if the gaze is threatening or competitive) (Jellison & Ickes, 1974;Kleinke, 1986). Maintaining eye contact during social interactions has been shown to have a range of implications, including being perceived as more attentive (Breed, 1972;Kelly, 1978), intelligent (Wheeler, Baron, Michell, & Ginsburg, 1979), and pleasant (Cook & Smith, 1975).…”

Perception of A Model’s Self-Esteem as A Function of Observer Self-Esteem and Model’s Duration of Eye Contact

“…Observers with a low level of self-esteem, however, showed the opposite pattern; low eye-contact durations produced perceptions of higher self-esteem than did high durations. Droney and Brooks (1993) and others (Amalfitano & Kalt, 1977;Brooks et aL, 1986;Napieralski et aL, 1995;Wheeler et aL, 1979;Wiens et aL, 1980) note that eye contact is a dominant nonverbal cue which conveys positive traits like a sense of control, confidence, reduced anxiety, and high self-esteem. The present data suggest that the degree to which these interpretations are made by an observer depend to some extent on the personality of that observer, and that low self-esteem individuals in particular might provide an exception to this generally favorable perception pertaining to maintaining eye contact.…”

“…Maintaining eye contact in situations such as a job interview is a characteristic that generally creates a favorable impression for an observer (e.g., Wheeler, Baron, Michell, & Ginsburg, 1979;Wiens, Harper, & Matarazzo, 1980). The early studies investigating eye contact as a social variable were correlational; participants view videotapes, photographs, or actual interview situations and then make ratings of the characteristics of the person.…”