Body Language of Looking Past People or Looking Through People
Cue: Looking Past People or Looking Through People.
Synonym(s): N/A
Description: The deliberate avoidance of eye contact by defocusing the eyes. The eye cue will make is seem as though people are being peering through, gazed upon as an object, or as if are being looked right through, as if not in existence.
In One Sentence: Looking through people is to dehumanize.
How To Use it: Looking through people is a strong nonverbal message. It is useful when you wish to power-play a person. It says that they are not even worth acknowledging. Thus it is extremely powerful and should used with care. To wag a nonverbal war, this is the go-to signal. At social events, you might look in the general direction or even at a person with a dead pan expression without making any verbal acknowledgement. You’ve got them, if they so much as nod or smile in view of this signal. Any acknowledgment, by them, says that they still wish to interact with you, and thus relinquish to you, social power. The signal is especially potent when done to loved ones because it reduces them to the status of an object.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I see you but I look at you as if you don’t exist or only exist as a non-human entity so my eyes glaze over and I lack any sort of facial expression. My eye contact is overt, but piercing and causes discomfort. I’m trying to dehumanize you and project superiority, dominance and dismissal.”
Variant: Staring or The Evil Eye, Eye Aversion, Gaze Avoidance and Wandering Eyes, Downcast Eyes or Eyes Down, Eye Rolling or Eye Shrug, Eye Squinting or Narrowing Eyes.
Cue In Action: She looked at her rival with contempt, casting eye-darts at her. When she tried to apologize, she peered right through her, as if she didn’t exist.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The nonverbal interpretation of such a cue includes dominance, superiority, dismissal, or outright rudeness.
This is an intense form of eye contact avoidance especially when done to quell the desired connectivity of another person especially while participating in a conversation. Looking through someone is often done across the room where distance creates additional separation and meaning.
When looking through others, a person who wishes to show distain will take an active stance at minimizing their interaction and dehumanize through glaring without affect, or facial expressions while peering longer than usual to drive the point.
Cue Cluster: The eyes and face are usually blank, a person will usually maintain a conversation with another person or will carry on with another activity without interruption.
Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Anger body language, Disengagement, Dislike (nonverbal), Dominant body language, Eye Language, Hostile body language, Microgestures, Micromessaging, Threat displays.
Resources:
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