title: When observing gaze shifts of others enhances object desirability.
abstract: The present research explored when observing gaze shifts of another person, involving both the observer and a specific object, enhances desirability of the gazed-at object. Specifically, we offer an initial attempt to test the idea that a three-step sequence consisting of direct gaze at the observer, followed by object-directed gaze and then by direct gaze at the observer, cues the desirability of an object to the observer and hence increases the perceived desirability of the gazed-at object. We examined this hypothesis in three experiments by manipulating eye-gaze shifts and including a no-gaze control condition. In line with our prediction, results showed that the dynamic sequence of gaze shifts indeed increases perceived object desirability. These findings provide new evidence that a sequence of gaze behavior involving the observer and an object plays an important role in influencing affective evaluation of objects.
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Department of Psychology, Utrecht, the Netherlands. a.vanderweiden@uu.nl
authors.forename: Anouk
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Weiden
authors.forename: Harm
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Veling
authors.forename: Henk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aarts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D012938:Social Perception; D014796:Visual Perception