Eye gaze and dominance hierarchy in profoundly mentally retarded males.
Previous research on gaze aversion has suggested that avoiders are communicating subordinance in the social interaction. A study on aggression in profoundly mentally retarded persons provided the objective measure required to determine the relationship between duration of eye gaze and ranked position in a social group's dominance hierarchy. Results indicated that submissive individuals maintained significantly longer eye contact as contrasted with dominant individuals. Implications of the findings were discussed.
D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D003142:Communication; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D005133:Eye Movements; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications*; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D012930:Social Dominance; D013037:Spatial Behavior