Intimate Space and the Eye Contact Rule

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 04: (L-R) Shane Sutton and Dave Brailsford attend the Team Sky Launch at Millbank Tower on January 4, 2010 in London, England.

These two people are standing very close to each other by any standards of territory. When we are standing so close to someone else, and they are not someone we feel extremely comfortable with- like a spouse or a very close friend- the amount of eye contact with that person goes down.

We look elsewhere to avoid more eye contact. In normal conversation with someone about 2-4 feet away, normal eye contact involves looking at the eyes about 30% of the time, the remaining time is spent looking towards the general direction of the person. 60+ percent eye contact is a usual sign of either attraction or aggression.

It is important to note that levels of appropriate eye contact differ from culture to culture.◦

Intimate Space and the Eye Contact Rule