question: Why is long eye contact with others seen as abnormal?
comment: In most mammals/birds a long look is seen as predatory, which is the same reason that its creepy when people dont blink. Source: Falconer, Me
passages: Section::::Cultural differences.
  
  In many cultures, such as in East Asia and Nigeria, it is respectful not to look the dominant person in the eye, but in Western culture this can be interpreted as being "shifty-eyed", and the person judged badly because "he wouldn't look me in the eye"; references such as "shifty-eyed" can refer to suspicions regarding an individual's unrevealed intentions or thoughts. Nevertheless, the seeking of constant unbroken eye contact by the other participant in a conversation can often be considered overbearing or distracting by many even in western cultures, possibly on an instinctive or subconscious level.
   Eye contact provides some of the strongest emotions during a social conversation. This primarily is because it provides details on emotions and intentions. In a group if eye contact is not inclusive of a certain individual it can make that individual feel left out of the group, while on the other hand prolonged eye contact can tell someone you are interested in what they have to say.
   When two or more individuals talk, the person that talks is used to being looked at. Therefore, making eye contact can make other people expect conversation. Discussing eye contact is actually quite difficult because any attempt to categorize the degree (of sustained contact or measure of directness) and the nature of the eye contact is nearly guaranteed to contain a lot of descriptors derived from one's own cultural predisposition.
  
  Section::::Effects.:Parent–child.
   Eye contact is also an important element in flirting, where it may serve to establish and gauge the other's interest in some situations. Mutual eye contact that signals attraction initially begins as a brief glance and progresses into a repeated volleying of eye contact.
  
  In the process of civil inattention, strangers in close proximity, such as a crowd, avoid eye contact in order to help maintain their privacy.
  
  Section::::Effects.
   For clinical evaluation purposes in the practice of psychiatry and clinical psychology, as part of a mental status exam, the clinician may describe the initiation, frequency, and quality of eye contact. For example, the doctor may note whether the patient initiates, responds to, sustains, or evades eye contact. The clinician may also note whether eye contact is unusually intense or blank, or whether the patient glares, looks down, or looks aside frequently.
  
  Section::::Between species.
  
  Eye contact can also be a significant factor in interactions between non-human animals, and between humans and non-human animals.
   In Cambodia it is not polite to make eye contact with someone who is older or someone who is considered a superior.
  
  Section::::Clothing.
   Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social interaction and communication difficulties. Atypical responses to direct gaze, a characteristic of ASD, have been demonstrated to manifest in infancy , suggesting that these responses are present from early in development. 
   Interpersonal distance was examined after a study about eye contact and mean length of mutual glance by Argyle and Ingham (1972) showed conflicting and reversal effects between males and females. In 1975, Russo conducted a study that focused on the eye-contact and distance relationship. In this study, 24 males and 24 females were drawn in same-sex pairs from kindergarten, third, and sixth grades and asked to "try out some distances and tell (the researcher) how they like them" (p. 499). Each participant sat and conversed for 2 minutes at each of the three distances. At each 2 minute interval the researcher asked the subjects how they liked talking at that particular distance. Russo found that the percentage of time engaged in contact (a) increased with distance, (b) was higher for females than males; and (c) did not significantly differ with friendship. In terms of the mean length of eye contact it: (a) did not significantly increase with interpersonal distance; (b) was higher for females than for males; and (c) was significantly greater for friends than nonfriends. Thus, the mean length of eye-contact appears to index affiliative tendencies, while the total amount of eye-contact does not.
   In many East Asian and north African cultures such as Nigeria,[6] it is also respectful not to look the dominant person in the eye. The seeking of constant unbroken eye contact by the other participant in a conversation can often be considered overbearing or distracting- even in western cultures.
  
  Section::::Nonverbal Communication.:Cultural Impact.:Some Oculesic Findings from around the World.:United States.
  
  In the United States, eye contact may serve as a regulating gesture and is typically related to issues of respect, attentiveness, and honesty in the American culture. Americans associate direct eye contact with forthrightness and trustworthiness.
   Within the interactive seduction game, non-verbal communication is a prominent feature in accessing the desirable potential mate. The purpose of this communication is to reduce the interpersonal distance between the desired individuals.
  
  Physiological features such as pupil dilation are a salient cue, expressing attraction. Leading on from this, eye contact is a very notable sign of attraction. Although there are cross cultural differences in whether eye contact is used or not, in Western cultures, the duration of eye contact and the exchange between two individuals is important in the first stages of the biosocial model.
   Section::::Eye contact.
  
  Eye contact is the instance when two people look at each other's eyes at the same time; it is the primary nonverbal way of indicating engagement, interest, attention and involvement. Some studies have demonstrated that people use their eyes to indicate interest. This includes frequently recognized actions of winking and movements of the eyebrows. Disinterest is highly noticeable when little or no eye contact is made in a social setting. When an individual is interested, however, the pupils will dilate.
   Research shows that gender plays an important role in ACT. As Argyle (1967) points out, females are socialized to have a higher affiliative orientation, which they may express through using more eye contact. However, other explanations can account for the higher use of mutual gaze by females. A higher affiliative orientation may increase the female's sensitivity and/or responsivity to social cues. Since the eyes are the prime source of information about another's attention, females that socializes in our culture would be expected to look more at the other person's eyes for this social information, thus increasing the amount of time a female dyad engages in eye contact, and perhaps (but not necessarily) increasing the mean length of mutual gaze for the dyad. The data show that the looking time in general shows an increase in the significance of the sex effect with age. Females may rely more on external cues in general, and insofar as the eyes of another are salient cues, the percentage of time in monitoring them should increase. 
   BULLET::::4. Cultural and Habitual Distance: A fourth conceptualization of social distance focuses cultural and habitual which is proposed by Bourdieu (1990). This type of distance is influenced by the "capital" people possess.
   Among primates, eye contact is seen as especially aggressive, and staring at them in a zoo can induce agitated behavior. Chimpanzees use eye contact to signal aggression in hostile encounters. Eye tracking research shows that chimps are more likely to look at the mouth, while bonobos are more likely to look at the eyes; eye contact is lower among socially deprived primates. A 2007 incident at Rotterdam Zoo is believed to be connected to eye contact: Bokito the gorilla escaped from his exhibit and injured a woman who had visited him several times and apparently often held prolonged eye contact. Visitors were later given special glasses that averted their apparent gaze when looking at the gorilla.
   Eye contact, Huseman goes on to explain, is the key factor in setting the tone between two individuals and greatly differs in meaning between cultures. In the Americas and Western Europe, eye contact is interpreted the same way, conveying interest and honesty. People who avoid eye contact when speaking are viewed in a negative light, withholding information and lacking in general confidence. However, in the Middle East, Africa, and especially Asia, eye contact is seen as disrespectful and even challenging of one's authority. People who make eye contact, but only briefly, are seen as respectful and courteous.
   Pious Muslims aspire to lower their gaze and look at each other without sexual objectification. Japanese children are taught in school to direct their gaze at the region of their teacher's Adam's apple or tie knot. As adults, Japanese lower their eyes when speaking to a superior as a gesture of respect.
  
  Some bodies of parliamentary procedure ban eye contact between members when speaking.
  
  Section::::Clinical description.
   Eye tracking experiments demonstrate that a large prevalence effect can occur across a group of participants with targets of similar appearance. In the experiment, participants had to discriminate the letter T from several similar-looking Ls. With a low prevalence, participants missed about 40 percent of the rare targets and responded more rapidly to target-absent trails than they did in high-prevalence conditions. (Previous work generally used simple stimuli.) Researchers discovered that when a target is rare, participants spend less time searching before concluding that it is absent (regardless of stimuli complexity). Eye-tracking data suggests that many errors at low prevalence were attributable to participants terminating the search without finding the target. Although cues suggested a higher target probability, searchers took longer to respond "no" (suggesting that the prevalence effect is ingrained).
   According to Eckman, "Eye contact (also called mutual gaze) is another major channel of nonverbal communication. The duration of eye contact is its most meaningful aspect." Generally speaking, the longer there is established eye contact between two people, the greater the intimacy levels.
  
  Gaze comprises the actions of looking while talking and listening. The length of a gaze, the frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation, and blink rate are all important cues in nonverbal communication. "Liking generally increases as mutual gazing increases."
   According to Michael Walsh and Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Western conversational interaction is typically "dyadic", between two particular people, where eye contact is important and the speaker controls the interaction; and "contained" in a relatively short, defined time frame. However, traditional Aboriginal conversational interaction is "communal", broadcast to many people, eye contact is not important, the listener controls the interaction; and "continuous", spread over a longer, indefinite time frame.
  
  Section::::Nonhuman.
   High and low-contact cultures also vary in the amount of physical interaction and direct contact there is during one-on-one communication. High-contact cultures involve people practicing direct eye contact, frequent touching, physical contact, and having close proximity to others. Examples of countries that have a high-contact culture include Mexico, Italy, and Brazil. Low-contact cultures involve people who practice less direct eye contact, little touching, have indirect body orientation, and more physical distance between people. Examples of countries that have a low-contact culture include the United States, Canada, and Japan.
  
  Section::::Social Influence.
  
  Section::::Social Influence.:Family and Peers.
   As humans get older, the eye contact effect develops as well. Accurate face recognition facilitated by direct gaze improves over the period of development from 6 to 11 years of age .
  
  Section::::Underlying Mechanisms.
  
  The three models of the underlying effects of the eye contact effect present differing views in how the postnatal environment plays a role in human development. 
  
  BULLET::::- The Affective arousal model attributes the eye contact effect emergence to the positive experiences (social interaction, communication) and reward value that result from eye contact and the arousal that subsequently comes with it.
   Entering somebody's personal space is normally an indication of familiarity and sometimes intimacy. However, in modern society, especially in crowded urban communities, it can be difficult to maintain personal space, for example when in a crowded train, elevator or street. Many people find such physical proximity to be psychologically disturbing and uncomfortable, though it is accepted as a fact of modern life. In an impersonal, crowded situation, eye contact tends to be avoided. Even in a crowded place, preserving personal space is important, and intimate and sexual contact, such as frotteurism and groping, is unacceptable physical contact.
   But different cultures have different rules for eye contact. Certain Asian cultures can perceive direct eye contact as a way to signal competitiveness, which in many situations may prove to be inappropriate. Others lower their eyes to signal respect, and similarly eye contact is avoided in Nigeria; however, in western cultures this could be misinterpreted as lacking self-confidence.
   Due to these difficulties, the development of the eye contact effect may be obstructed. However, studies addressing eye contact in individuals with ASD can elicit mixed results. Response to eye contact has been identified as stronger neuro-physiologically for direct gaze than indirect gaze . This may be due to individuals with ASD responding faster to eye contact based on their detection of features, rather than in the facial context 
   BULLET::::- 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 the eye contact.
  
  BULLET::::- Staring - Staring is more than just eye contact, it usually involves eyes wider than normal. A lack of blinking may indicate more interest, but it also may indicate a stronger feeling than a person may intend to portray. Prolonged eye contact can be aggressive, affectionate, or deceptive.
  