In our culture, the gaze is fundamental, since it is a crucial part of non-verbal language and helps us to interpret the intentions of othersThis is why it is sometimes uncomfortable and disconcerting to talk to someone who does not look directly into our eyes, such as blind people, autistic people or even people who wear sunglasses.
A look can say many things, its interpretation often depends on the culture, there are cultures where staring at someone is a sign of disrespect, these stares can also be interpreted in other cultures as challenging, aggressive, or intimidating.
Biology studies have shown that the eyes are a barometer of our arousalThis is understood as activation of the brain and nervous system that regulate our reactions to external stimuli from the environment.
It was shown, in a study by Dr. Peter Murphy in the Netherlands, that people with consistently greater dilations of the pupils, are those who make more erratic decisions, since it is well known that the moments of excitement, it is not good to make decisions, it is better to make them when being calm. In other words, the size of the pupils can predict the reliability of decision-making.
There are people who have good observation skills for subtle signs like pupil size, which is why many poker players do it with sunglasses. There are good reasons to believe that born manipulators, such as sociopaths, are very good eye readers.
Regarding the pupils, Eckhard Hess, a biopsychologist at the University of Chicago, realized that when experiencing anger or negative emotions, the pupils tend to contract. He also discovered that the dilation of the pupils can also be a sign of courtship, this is also associated with the fact that romantic encounters are usually done in places with little light, It is also believed that people in love unconsciously search the other person's eyes for signs of pupillary dilation.
Another aspect regarding the eyes that can be interpreted are the looks, for example looking a lot to the sides denotes nervousness, looking down can be a sign of shyness, shame, guilt or insecurity, it can also mean that they are upset or try to hide something.
According to the evolutionary perspective, we are unconsciously prepared to give meaning to the looks of others, since these can give us useful information for our survival, for example to know if there is empathy with someone or if it is someone dangerous who can attack us and we must flee.
Something that can be detected by analyzing someone's gaze are lies, looking up and to the right indicates imagination or construction, unlike looking up and to the left which is an indicator of information retrieval in memory, then if someone is going to lie, they will probably look up to the right to make up what they are going to say, but we must be careful, because these types of looks are not always determinative of lies and it is not the same for everyone, there are also many people who already know how to lie without looking in this direction.
Various investigations have shown that blink rates can increase in situations of nervousness or worry, this is often seen in liars or in people who are under stress conditions.
The eyes can also help us discover if a smile is real or fake, Paul Ekman has differentiated between honest and fake smiles, he says The eyes can help us when we doubt whether a smile is true or not, because being true, the eyes fill with small lines on the sides and thin a littleIn addition, many times a certain brightness and humidity is generated in the eyes of a person who is happy.
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