Body Language of Eye Blinking (Less)
Cue: Eye Blinking (Less)
Synonym(s): N/A
Description: When the eyes blink less than normal.
In One Sentence: When eyes blink less often than normal, it signals boredom, hostility (staring), or indifference.”
How To Use it: When trying to relax, allow the focus of the eyes to relax.
Conversely, when trying to intimidate another person, persistent, non-blinking eye contact can signal aggression. Use less blinking to show that another person has become an object to you. To be turned into an object is the ultimate insult. Use “staring contests” to test your ability to dominate other people. You may find that more submissive people tend to hold less unblinking eye contact or, in other words, are the first to look away or blink.
In a dating context, less eye contact is called “gazing.” It is a much softer, more relaxed version of eye contact. This should be used to create bonding and intimacy.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I’m bored, falling asleep, feeling hostile, or indifferent to you so my eyes lack any character of engagement.”
Variant: See Eye Blinking (Rapid), Staring or The Evil Eye.
Cue In Action: His wife began retelling an office gossip story for the third time, his eyes glazed over and he took on a zombie state.
Meaning and/or Motivation: When eyes blink less rapidly or seem to not blink at all, it is due to a zoning out (boredom) or due to anger or hostility, as in staring. Reduced eye blinking can also signify indifference and in some circumstances even confidence. We see this in stare-down competitions where the last person to blink is the victor in the dominance competition.
It has been shown that people with confidence tend to establish more eye contact and hold it longer than normal. Eyes that blink less can also show interest and intensity, but also piercing and assault. When the eyes blink less the eye can blur due to dryness so eyes that blink less are eyes that aren’t interested in seeing due to a lack of emotion.
Cue Cluster: When eyes depict boredom they tend to defocus as well as blink less frequently. The eyes will seem to look through people and there will be no agreement indicators such as head nods and “mhmms” and “yeses.” When eyes blink less due to anger, they will be piercing and follow a target intensely with the eyelids squinting rather than relax with open facial expressions. When eye contact is due to confidence we expect the head to nod, that conversation will be flowing, and that the head will be tilted to the side.
Body Language Category: Attentive, Boredom, Confident body language, Disengagement, Eye Language, Indicators of disinterest (IOD), Indicator of interest (IoI), Threat displays.
Resources:
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