CHAPTER FIVE

EYE CONTACT

Eye contact is the act of looking directly into another’s eye (i.e. it occurs when “two people look at each other’s at the same time.”) Psychology: a meeting of the eye of two persons regarded as a meaningful nonverbal form of communication.

Eye contact and facial expressions provide important social and emotional information. People, perhaps without consciously doing so, search other's eyes and faces for positive or negative mood signs. In some contexts, the meeting of eyes arouses strong emotions.

Eye contact is also an important element in flirting, where it may serve to establish and gauge the other's interest in some situations.

Mutual eye contacts that signal attraction initially begins as a brief glance and progresses into a repeated volleying of eye contact.

In the process of civil inattention, strangers in close proximity, such as a crowd, avoid eye contact in order to help maintain their privacy.

Why Eye Contact?

1.     Our eyes are made to connect.

It’s easy to see why the eyes of others capture our gaze: they are free-moving orbs lodged in an otherwise stationary face; eyeballs are really kind of weird when you think about them, aren’t they? But they also grab our attention for a reason that is distinctly human.

2.     Our eyes reveal our thoughts and feelings:

You have probably heard the old expression: “The eyes are the window to the soul.” While that may not be literally true, they do reveal a great deal about what we are really thinking and feeling from moment to moment. Think of all the eye-related expressions we have in our language. We are seduced by “bedroom eyes,” wary of “shifty eyes,” and afraid of getting the “evil eye.” We are attracted to people who have “kind eyes” and eyes that “sparkle,” “glow,” or “twinkle,” while we are repelled by those who are “dead behind the eyes.”

3.     Eye contact shows attention.

 Sociologists tell us that people are starved for attention these days. Despite the fact that we are more “connected” than ever, folks are hungry for face-to-face interactions and someone to really, sincerely listen to them. This hunger for attention can manifest itself in things like “conversational narcissism.”

4.     Eye contact creates an intimate bond.

When I am performing a task or feeling an emotion, and you are observing me do so, the same neurons that are being lit up in my brain by actually having the experience, are the ones that light up in your brain just from watching me.

Reasons why it’s so Hard to make Eye contact in Human relations 

1.     Hiding deceit.

If you are purposefully hiding the truth from someone, you may hesitate to look them in the eye because you’re worried that your eyes will give away the truth, and because creating the kind of intimate bond described above when you are knowingly duping someone makes you feel especially ashamed.

2.     Masking emotions.

There are times when you are not trying to disguise a lie outright, but simply wish to conceal your true feelings from others, such as when you do not think your reaction to something will be received favourably by them.

3.     Insecurity. Finally, one of the most common reasons why people avoid eye contact is for simple insecurity reasons. Eye contact invites more interaction, and you might not want people to take a closer look at you because of how you feel about yourself.

Functions of Eye Contact and Eye Avoidance in Human relations

1.     Eye contact is to seek feedback. In talking with someone, we look at her or him intently, as if to say, “Well, what do you think?” As you might predict, listeners gaze at speakers more than speakers gaze at listeners

2.     Eye contact is to inform the other person that the channel of communication is open and that he or she should now speak. You see this regularly in conversation, when one person asks a question or finishes a thought and then looks to you for a response.

3.     Eye movements may also signal the nature of a relationship, whether positive (an attentive glance) or negative (eye avoidance). You can also signal your power through visual dominance behaviour (Exline, Ellyson, & Long, 1975).

Eye Avoidance

Eye avoidance can also serve several different functions. When you avoid eye contact or avert your glance, you may help others maintain their privacy. Eye avoidance can also signal lack of interest—in a person, a conversation, or some visual stimulus. At times, too, you may hide your eyes to block out unpleasant stimuli (a particularly gory or violent scene in a movie, for instance) or close your eyes to block out visual stimuli and thus heighten other senses. For instance, you may listen to music with your eyes closed. Lovers often close their eyes while kissing, and many prefer to make love in a dark or dimly lit room, so that they see less with their eyes.

Belief Systems

A belief system is a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs of any such system can be classified as religious, philosophical, political, logical or a combination of these belief systems.

Belief System Definition and Meaning

The belief system of a person or society according to Collins dictionary is a set of beliefs that they have about what is right and wrong and what is true or false. Instance sentences containing ‘’belief system’ belief system is one of the 30,000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary.

To explain briefly what a belief system is or a religious belief (why is it universal) what it does for or contributes to human culture in general and what needs does it answer for human relations in organization.

Expert answers

There are many ways to define belief systems for instance, we can define them as interconnected sets of beliefs or can define them as “the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of reality” or belief system are set of beliefs that we can have that are related to one another and that, when taken as a group, help us to comprehend our existence and the universe in which we exist. People who adhere to a given belief system will say they do so because the belief system is true. Many people will believe that their belief system is mandated by God.

Why do people hold to their belief system?

Social scientists do believe that they know why belief system is universal. The reason is that people seem to have an innate desire to give meaning to their lives. Life can often be difficult and people do not want to think that they are struggling through life without any purpose. Thus, the theory has it, they devise belief systems that will allow them to make sense of the world and that will give them a purpose of living.

Human culture and human organizations are made up of individuals. If the individuals have serious problems, the cultures and organizations will have problems too. This is why belief systems are important to cultures and organizations. If people do not have any belief system, they are likely to have less hope, trust, aspiration and are likely to feel less decent about themselves and their lives. If this happens, they are likely to engage in behaviours that will weaken the cohesion of their culture or their organization. For instance, if we are hopeless and unhappy, we are less likely to form stable marriages or friendships. If we do not do these things our cultures and our organizations will be weaker. Thus, we can argue that belief systems are very important both to the individual, people and to the larger groups of which they are a part.

References

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