title: Mutual gaze duration as a function of length of conversation in male-female dyads.
abstract: To assess the effects of familiarity on the duration of mutual gaze, and other measures of visual interaction, e.g., duration of unilateral gaze and discrepancy in duration between partners, 14 male-female dyads discussed unconditional positive regard for 8 min., after individually studying the topic for 10 min. Mutual gaze duration was significantly longer during the last 2 min. of the discussion than during the first 2 min. This suggests that, after some exposure at least, participants maintain longer durations of mutual gaze. Further, if the duration of mutual gaze is interpreted as a measure of intimacy, even a relatively short social interaction appears to increase the intimacy between two individuals of opposite sex. However, it is not clear whether these findings could be generalized to male-male and female-female dyads.
authors.affiliation: University of Louisiana at Monroe, 71209, USA.
authors.forename: Dena M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Cordell
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: McGahan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior