{"id":66718,"date":"2022-05-16T09:32:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T13:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=66718"},"modified":"2022-05-25T13:20:41","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T17:20:41","slug":"attraction-eye-contact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/attraction-eye-contact\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Show Attraction: Eye Contact Is Key"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do you show someone you’re attracted to them? How does eye contact communicate attraction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re attracted to someone, instead of playing coy, hold their gaze for as long as possible. That doesn’t mean staring though. If you want to show attraction, eye contact should be intermittent\u2014let your eyes bounce between your recipient and back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how prolonged eye contact encourages attraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hold Their Gaze to Convey Attraction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to communicating attraction, eye contact is key. Strong eye contact is more likely to invite a positive response because it makes the recipient feel like she\u2019s captivated by you. Your obvious interest in her triggers a nervous, biological response that\u2019s similar to what happens when people fall in love: It increases her heartbeat and pumps adrenaline into her bloodstream. Because she\u2019s not conscious of why she\u2019s experiencing this nervous physical reaction, she interprets it as a sign of mutual attraction and intimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To encourage attraction, maintain eye contact with your recipient even when others in your group are speaking. If you must look away, do so slowly and reluctantly\u2014as if you\u2019re so enthralled that you can\u2019t look away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowndes warns that intense eye contact should be used with caution. If your intended recipient has already decided that she\u2019s not attracted to you, she\u2019ll interpret your attention as arrogance and won\u2019t respond well. (Shortform note: Additionally, research shows that maintaining eye contact with too much<\/em> intensity makes you come across as a psychopath<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Prolonged Eye Contact Impacts You<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Research backs up Lowndes\u2019s claim that holding someone\u2019s gaze is an effective way to encourage mutual attraction and reveals why prolonged eye contact has such a profound impact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– It immediately triggers a state of increased self-consciousness<\/a> and this makes you more aware of your own body\u2014which makes you feel<\/em> as if your heart\u2019s beating faster than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– It consumes extra brainpower and this makes it difficult to talk about or process complicated topics<\/a>\u2014which might make you feel tongue-tied and nervous (the uncomfortable side-effect of infatuation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– It influences how you perceive other people\u2019s emotions\u2014the more eye contact, the more intensely you experience what they\u2019re feeling<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s obvious that the amount of eye contact you make does influence others<\/a>, there\u2019s also another aspect to this\u2014what people see<\/em> in your eyes. Subconsciously, people pay attention to what your pupils are doing to further interpret your intentions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/strong> Dilated pupils:<\/strong> People interpret this as a sign of attraction and emotional arousal<\/a> and they judge you to be more trustworthy. Further, their pupils tend to mimic yours and show similar dilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–<\/strong> Constricted pupils:<\/strong> People interpret this as a sign of fear and they judge you to be less trustworthy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you show someone you’re attracted to them? How does eye contact communicate attraction? If you\u2019re attracted to someone, instead of playing coy, hold their gaze for as long as possible. That doesn’t mean staring though. If you want to show attraction, eye contact should be intermittent\u2014let your eyes bounce between your recipient and back. Here’s how prolonged eye contact encourages attraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":59094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9,12],"tags":[620],"class_list":["post-66718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","category-relationships","tag-how-to-talk-to-anyone","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Show Attraction: Eye Contact Is Key - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019re attracted to someone, hold their gaze for as long as possible. 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