The effect of perceived direct gaze on self-focused attention

It has long been speculated that eye contact increases self-focus, but the effect has been little researched. Moreover, most of the studies so far have been based on self-report questionnaires, which are problematic due to issues of credibility and reactivity. In the present study, the effect of perceived direct gaze on self-focused attention was investigated with implicit measures. The self-focus-inducing effect of direct gaze was examined with a video stimulus. Participants were instructed to imagine that the person in the video was a real person sitting opposite to them. Self-focus was measured with a novel latency-based measure, and an implicit pronoun-selection task, in addition to a commonly used self-report measure of self-focus. The participants were randomly assigned to either a direct or an averted gaze group, and their scores on these measures were compared. Self-focus was found to be higher for those in the direct gaze group as gauged by the latency-based measure. The results on the pronoun-selection task did not differ between the groups. Furthermore, the self-reported awareness of one's internal states was found to be heightened in the direct gaze group. The results suggest that the perception of a direct gaze increases self-focused attention. The perception of a direct gaze without being observed seems to increase introspective self-focus, whereas mutual eye contact with a live person is known to increase the awareness of one's appearance. As introspective self-focus is associated with an increase in the salience of emotions and values, the results have implications for certain forms of communication, such as campaigning or advertising

Perception of eye contact, self-referential thinking and age

Increased thinking about one's self has been proposed to widen the gaze cone, that is, the range of gaze deviations that an observer judges as looking directly at them (eye contact). This study investigated the effects of a self-referential thinking manipulation and demographic factors on the gaze cone. In a preregistered experiment (N = 200), the self-referential thinking manipulation, as compared to a control manipulation, did not influence the gaze cone, or the use of first-person pronouns in a manipulation check measuring self-referential processing. This may indicate a failure of the manipulation and participants’ lack of effort. However, participants’ age was significantly correlated with both measures: older people had wider gaze cones and used more self-referring pronouns. A second experiment (N = 300) further examined the effect of the manipulation and demographic factors on self-referential processing, and the results were replicated. These findings may reflect age-related self-reference and positivity effects.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

All Eyes on Eye Contact: Studies on cognitive, affective and behavioral effects of eye contact

Katseen suunta ja katsekontakti ovat tärkeitä sosiaalisia viestejä. Katsekontaktin tiedetään vaikuttavan tiedonkäsittelyyn, tunteisiin ja käyttäytymiseen, mutta moni asia katsekontaktin vaikutuksista ja vaikutusten mekanismeista on yhä epäselvä. Suoran katseen havaitsemisen on ehdotettu aktivoivan itseen liittyvää kognitiivista prosessointia, joka voisi selittää monia katsekontaktin vaikutuksista. Ilmiötä ei kuitenkaan ole aiemmin tutkittu. Tutkimuksessa I tarkasteltiin katsekontaktin vaikutusta itseen liittyvään prosessointiin käyttämällä implisiittistä, persoonapronominien valintaan perustuvaa mittaria. Aidon katsekontaktin havaittiin lisäävän itseen liittyvää prosessointia. Sen sijaan kahdessa kokeessa, joissa ärsykkeinä käytettiin suoraa ja käännettyä katsetta esittäviä videoita, vaikutusta ei tullut esiin. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että tämä vaikutus voi edellyttää toisen ihmisen katseen kohteena olemista. Tutkimuksessa II tarkasteltiin toisen ihmisen katseen kohteena olemisen ja hänen fyysisen läsnäolonsa merkitystä katsekontaktin aiheuttamiin vaikutuksiin. Suoran ja käännetyn katseen havaitsemisen aiheuttamia psykofysiologisia vasteita ja käyttäytymisen muutoksia mitattiin kasvokkaisessa vuorovaikutustilanteessa, videopuhelutilanteessa ja tilanteessa, jossa tutkittavat vain katselivat toista ihmistä tietokoneen ruudulta ilman kaksisuuntaista yhteyttä. Katsekontakti aktivoi autonomista hermostoa, ja tämän havaittiin edellyttävän toisen katseen kohteena olemista, mutta ei hänen fyysistä läsnäoloaan. Kasvolihasten aktivaatiossa sen sijaan suoran katseen havaitseminen aiheutti hymyyn viittaavia reaktioita riippumatta siitä, kykenikö toinen henkilö näkemään tutkittavaa tai oliko hän samassa tilassa tutkittavan kanssa. Odotusten vastaisesti tutkittavien vastaukset itseen liittyvän prosessoinnin mittarissa eivät eronneet eri tilanteiden välillä. Tutkimuksessa III selvitettiin katsekontaktin vaikutuksia valehtelemiseen. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa on osoitettu, että suoraa katsetta esittävät kuvat voivat vähentää epärehellistä käyttäytymistä. Ei kuitenkaan tiedetä, ilmeneekö sama vaikutus myös luonnollisessa vuorovaikutuksessa tai voiko katseen havaitseminen vähentää toiselle ihmiselle valehtelemista. Tätä tutkittiin vuorovaikutteisella tietokonepelillä, jota tutkittavat pelasivat tutkimusavustajaa vastaan. He luulivat tutkimusavustajan olevan toinen tutkimukseen osallistuja. Pelikierroksilla, joita ennen tutkittavat olivat nähneet vastapelaajan katsovan suoraan kohti, he valehtelivat vähemmän kuin kierroksilla, joita ennen vastapelaaja oli katsonut alaviistoon. Tämän väitöskirjan tulokset laajentavat aiempaa ymmärrystä katsekontaktin vaikutuksista ja niiden mekanismeista. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että toisen ihmisen suora katse aktivoi itseen liittyvää kognitiivista prosessointia ja vähentää valehtelemista. Lisäksi havaittiin, että katsekontaktin aiheuttama autonomisen hermoston virittyminen edellyttää toisen ihmisen katseen kohteena olemista, mutta ei hänen fyysistä läsnäoloaan. Yhdessä nämä tulokset ilmentävät katsekontaktin vaikutusten moninaista ja tilannesidonnaista luonnetta.Gaze direction and eye contact are important social cues. Eye contact is known to have various effects on cognition, affect, and behavior, though many aspects of these effects and what underlies them is unclear. The perception of direct gaze has been proposed to elicit self-referential cognitive processing of external information, which could account for many other effects of eye contact. However, this proposed effect has not been previously investigated. This was examined in Study I by using implicit measures based on pronoun selection. Genuine eye contact with another live person was found to elicit self-referential processing, but in two other experiments wherein videos of direct and averted gaze were used as stimuli, this effect was not observed. This suggests that being seen by another person may be important for the effect. Study II examined the roles of being seen by the other person and their physical presence on the effects of eye contact. For this aim, psychophysiological and behavioral responses to direct and averted gaze were compared in live interaction, in video call interaction, and while merely watching a video presentation of the other. The autonomic arousal response to eye contact was found to depend on being seen by the other person but not their physical presence. Affiliative facial reactions, by contrast, were elicited in response to the mere perception of direct gaze regardless of being seen by the other or their presence. Unexpectedly, on a measure of selfreferential processing, responses to direct gaze were similar in the three conditions. Study III investigated the effect of eye contact on lying. Previous studies have shown that seeing a picture of watching eyes can reduce dishonest behavior. It is, however, unclear whether this effect extends to in-person eye contact or to actual lying. This was investigated with an interactive computer game, which participants played against a confederate of the experimenter. Seeing the opponent’s direct gaze in comparison to their averted gaze was found to reduce subsequent lying. The present results broaden the knowledge of the effects of eye contact and of their underlying mechanisms. Most importantly, they suggest that seeing another person’s direct gaze increases self-referential processing and reduces lying, and that the autonomic arousal response to eye contact depends on being seen by the other person but not their physical presence. Together, these studies elucidate the multifaceted and context-dependent nature of the eye contact effects

The effect of perceived direct gaze on self-focused attention

It has long been speculated that eye contact increases self-focus, but the effect has been little researched. Moreover, most of the studies so far have been based on self-report questionnaires, which are problematic due to issues of credibility and reactivity. In the present study, the effect of perceived direct gaze on self-focused attention was investigated with implicit measures. The self-focus-inducing effect of direct gaze was examined with a video stimulus. Participants were instructed to imagine that the person in the video was a real person sitting opposite to them. Self-focus was measured with a novel latency-based measure, and an implicit pronoun-selection task, in addition to a commonly used self-report measure of self-focus. The participants were randomly assigned to either a direct or an averted gaze group, and their scores on these measures were compared. Self-focus was found to be higher for those in the direct gaze group as gauged by the latency-based measure. The results on the pronoun-selection task did not differ between the groups. Furthermore, the self-reported awareness of one's internal states was found to be heightened in the direct gaze group. The results suggest that the perception of a direct gaze increases self-focused attention. The perception of a direct gaze without being observed seems to increase introspective self-focus, whereas mutual eye contact with a live person is known to increase the awareness of one's appearance. As introspective self-focus is associated with an increase in the salience of emotions and values, the results have implications for certain forms of communication, such as campaigning or advertising

Ecosystem impacts of the widespread non-indigenous species in the Baltic Sea: literature survey evidences major limitations in knowledge

Invasion of non-indigenous species (NIS) is acknowledged as one of the most important external drivers affecting structure and functions of marine ecosystems globally. This paper offers literature-based analysis on the effects of the widespread (occurring in at least 50% of countries) and currently established NIS on ecosystem features in the Baltic Sea. It appears that out of the 18 NIS taxa studied, there are no published records on 28% of NIS for any of the seven impact categories investigated. When ecological impacts are known, laboratory experimental evidence dominates over field studies. Combined observations on impact strength, information type and confidence level suggest that the two benthic invertebrates, the polychaete Marenzelleria spp. and the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas 1771) exert the highest ecosystem impact. Despite continuously accumulating information on the NIS effects, however, the confidence of findings is still low. Thus, we still understand very little on both the direction and magnitude of the effects of even the most widespread NIS on the structure and dynamics of the Baltic Sea ecosystems. In order to increase reliability of such assessments, future research should be targeted towards spatially-explicit field surveys and experimenting of multitrophic systems, together with modelling of ecosystem impact