Oculesics, a subcategory of kinesics, is the study of eye movement, behavior, gaze, and eye-related nonverbal communication. The term's specific designation slightly varies apropos of the field of study (e.g., medicine or social science). Communication scholars use the term "oculesics" to refer to the investigation of culturally-fluctuating propensities and appreciations of visual attention, gaze and other implicitly effusive elements of the eyes. Comparatively, medical professionals may ascribe the same appellation to the measurement of a patient's ocular faculty, especially subsequent a cerebral or other injury (e.g., a concussion).
Nonverbal communication
Oculesics is one form of nonverbal communication, which is the transmission and reception of meaning between communicators without the use of words. Nonverbal communication can include the environment around the communicators, the physical attributes or characteristics of the communicators, and the communicators' behavior of the communicators.
The four nonverbal communication cues are known as spatial, temporal, visual, and vocal. Each cue relates to one or more forms of nonverbal communication: Chronemics – the study of time Haptics – the study of touch Kinesics – the study of movement Oculesics – the study of eye behavior Olfactics – the study of scent Paralanguage – the study of voice communication outside of language Proxemics – the study of space
Dimensions of oculesics
There are four aspects involved with oculesics:
Dimension 1: eye contact
There are two methods of assessing eye contact: Direct assessment Indirect assessment
Dimension 2: eye movement Eye movement can occur either voluntarily or involuntarily. Various types of eye movement include changing eye direction, changing focus, or following objects with the eyes. The five types of this movement include saccades, smooth pursuit, vergence, vestibulo-ocular, and optokinetic movements.
Dimension 3: pupil dilation
Pupillary response refers to the voluntary or involuntary change in the size of the pupil. The pupils may enlarge or dilate in response to the appearance of real or perceived new objects of focus, or at the real or perceived indication of such appearances.
Dimension 4: gaze direction Gazing deals with communicating and feeling intense desire with the eye, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Theorists and studies
Many theorists and studies are associated with nonverbal communication, including the study of oculesics.
Ray Birdwhistell
Professor Ray Birdwhistell was one of the earliest theorists of nonverbal communication. As an anthropologist, he coined the term kinesics, and defined it as communication and perceived meaning from facial expressions and body gestures.
Birdwhistell spent over fifty years analyzing kinesics. He wrote two books on the subject: Introduction to Kinesics (1952) and Kinesics and Context (1970). He also created films of people communicating and studied their methods of nonverbal communication in slow motion. He published his results in attempt to make general translations of gestures and expressions, although he later acknowledged it was impossible to equate each form of body language with a specific meaning.
Birdwhistell's study of oculesics was greatly enhanced by his use of film. In one study, he filmed which directions and at what objects children looked as they learned activities from their parents.
Paul Ekman
Dr. Paul Ekman is a psychologist with over five decades of experience researching nonverbal communication, especially with facial expressions. He has written, co-authored, and edited over a dozen books and published over 100 articles on oculesics. He also served as an advisor for the television show Lie to Me, and worked with the Dalai Lama on increasing awareness of the influence of emotion on behavior to help people achieve peace of mind.
Ekman's work in facial expressions includes studies looking for connections between oculesics and other facial movements, eye behavior and physically covering the eyes when recalling personal traumatic events, and on his self-coined phrase, "the Duchenne smile" (named after Guillaume Duchenne), which relates to involuntary movements of the orbicularis oculi, pars orbitalis when smiling sincerely. Most prominently, oculesics play a major role in the Facial Action Coding System, which is a micro-expression database created by Dr. Ekman and his colleagues.
Robert Plutchik
Professor Robert Plutchik was a psychologist who specialized in communicating emotion with expressions and gestures. Many of his articles and books discuss the influence of emotion on nonverbal communication as well as the effect of those expressions and gestures on emotions.
Professor Plutchik's work on oculesics includes studies on the "synthesis of facial expressions," which look for connections between expressions in the eye along with expressions from the forehead and mouth.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
Dr. Francine Shapiro developed eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment to address diseases such as posttraumatic stress disorder. EMDR communicates with the subject through eye movement in an attempt to re-create meaning and processing of prior traumatic events.
Theory of Non-Competitive Stare
Theory proposed by psychologist and psychotherapist Carlos Prada which suggests the existence of specific pathways in the visual system through which dominance is transmitted and processed. These pathways go from the dominant eye to the visual cortex and from there to the specific cognitive module for processing. More precisely and depending on the specific lateralization of brain function:
In right-handed: right eye → optic nerve (through optic chiasm) → visual cortex → cognitive module. In left-handed: left eye → optic nerve → visual cortex → cognitive module. In ambidextrous: through any two pathways, according lateralization of brain function.
Despite the scientific nature of the proposal, the author emphasises the benefits for interpersonal relationships of avoiding looking directly at the dominant eye through which the transmission of ocular dominance is initiated (as proposed by the theory).
As a struggle for power and dominance is established through eye contact, and at the same time, as maintaining eye contact is considered to be a proof of sincerity, self-confidence and credibility, he suggests that eye contact should be maintained staring at the non-dominant eye, thus avoiding the specific routes of dominance transmission. This will mean a substantial improvement in interpersonal relationships.
From the experience that empirical evidence provides and valuing the characteristics of lateralization of brain function between individuals, he proposes that the appropriate technique consists in staring at the left eye (non-dominant) of right-handed people, and at the right eye (non-dominant) of left-handed people. The improvement in interpersonal relationships would take place as much in the case of establishing new relations as in already established ones.
Communicating emotions
In the book Human Emotions, author Carroll Ellis Izard says "a complete definition of emotion must take into account all three of these aspects or components: (a) the experience or conscious feeling of emotion; (b) the processes that occur in the brain and nervous system; and (c) the observable expressive patterns of emotion, particularly those on the face" (p.4). This third component is where oculesics plays a role in nonverbal communication of emotion.
Oculesics is a primary form of communicating emotion. The pseudoscientific study of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) established three main types of thinking regarding what someone sees, hears, or feels. According to this pseudoscience, oculesics can show which type of thinking someone is using when they are communicating. A person thinking visually might physically turn their eyes away, as if to look at an imagined presentation of what they are thinking, even to the point of changing the focus of their eyes. Someone thinking in terms of hearing might turn their eyes as much as possible to one of their ears. A person thinking in terms of what they feel could look downwards as if looking toward their emotions coming from their body.
Whether or not someone intends to send a particular meaning or someone else perceives meaning correctly, the exchange of communication happens and can initiate emotion. It is important to understand these dynamics because we often establish relationships (on small and grand scales) with oculesics.
Lists of emotions
There are many theories on how to annotate a specific list of emotions. Two prominent methodologies come from Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. Robert Plutchik.
Dr. Ekman states there are 15 basic emotions – amusement, anger, contempt, contentment, disgust, embarrassment, excitement, fear, guilt, pride in achievement, relief, sadness/distress, satisfaction, sensory pleasure, and shame – with each of these fifteen stemming out to similar and related sub-emotions.
Dr. Plutchik says there are eight basic emotions, which have eight opposite emotions, all of which create human feelings (which also have opposites). He created Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions to demonstrate this theory.
Perceptions and displays of emotions vary across time and culture. Some theorists say that even with these differences, there can be generally accepted "truths" about oculesics, such as the theory that constant eye contact between two people is physically and mentally uncomfortable.
Emotions with eye summary:
Anxiety – wetness or moisture in the eyes Anger – eyes glaring and wide open Boredom – eyes not focused, or focused on something else Desire – eyes wide, dilation of pupils Disgust – rapid turning away of eyes Envy – glaring Fear – eyes wide, or looking downward; may also be closed Happiness – "glittery" look to eyes, wrinkled at the sides Interest – intense focus, perhaps squinting Pity – heavy gaze to eyes, moisture in eyes Sadness – tears in eyes, looking downward; may have a sleepless appearance Shame – eyes looking down while head is turned down Surprise – eyes wide open
Eye behaviors with emotional summaries: Eyes up – Different people look up for different reasons. Some look up when they are thinking. Others look upward in an effort to recall something from their memory. It may also indicate a person's subconscious display boredom. The head position is also considered - for example, an upwards look with a lowered head can be a coy, suggestive action. Eyes down – Avoiding eye contact, or looking down, can be a sign of submission or fear. It may also indicate that someone feels guilty. However, depending on the culture of the person, it may also be a sign of respect. Lateral movement of eyes – Looking away from the person from whom one is speaking could be a sign that something else has taken their interest. It may also mean that a person is easily distracted. Looking to the left can mean that a person is trying to remember a sound while looking to the right can mean that the person is actually imagining the sound. Side-to-side movement, however, can indicate that a person is lying. Gazing - Staring at someone means that a person shows sincere interest. For instance, staring at a person's lips can indicate that someone wants to kiss another person. The subject of someone's gaze can communicate what that person wants. Glancing – Glancing can show a person's true desires. For example, glancing at a door might mean that someone wants to leave, while glancing at a glass of water might mean that a person is thirsty. Eye contact – Eye contact is powerful and shows sincere interest if it is unbroken. A softening of the stare can indicate sexual desire. Breaking that eye contact can be threatening to the person who does not break eye contact.