Here is a story I read from Leil Lowndes, which I've tested and found its principles to be true:
Yale psychology researchers once did a study to test the common belief of "more eye contact, more positive feelings." They tested this through the medium of public speaking. All the public speakers were professionals, they all used the same speeches, and were all told to maintain constant eye contact with the audience. They did several tests using different gender variations both in the audiences and with the speakers. Afterward, the audiences would complete surveys and interviews regarding their feelings toward the speaker. The results were this....
Female speaker to female audience = the female audiences felt increased rapport and connection with the speaker when they held eye contact.
Male speaker to female audience (and vice versa) = the audiences felt increased rapport and connection with the speaker when they held eye contact.
Male speaker to male audience = The male audiences would actually became uncomfortable and sometimes hostile towards the male speaker who held constant eye contact with them.
I personally never felt comfortable maintaining constant eye contact with other males. I will hold it for a few seconds, but I will periodically break it away and come back. This study showed us that kind of "on and off" eye contact between males is actually the natural way to do it.
The study has another implication as well. What this basically all means is that as a guy, it is completely OK to maintain constant eye contact with a woman. It won't create discomfort. In fact, if you watch women as they interact with each other, you will see that they will most often maintain constant eye contact. Its kind of freaky once you start noticing it!
Here is a principle to improve your eye contact; its called "Sticky Eyes". When speaking to a woman, pretend like your eyes are stuck to hers. Now noobs, don't interpret this as you need to stare them down or be creepy! All it means is that you should hold relaxed eye contact and be comfortable to go where she goes. You can even try counting the number of times they blink, or making sure to remember their eye color. When speaking to another male, you should use "Semi-Sticky Eyes". This means not to be afraid to have eye contact, but you shouldn't stare them down or anything (unless you don't like them), because it really does create discomfort after a while.
Male to Female = Sticky Eyes
Female to Female = Sticky Eyes
Male to Male = Semi-Sticky Eyes
Anyways, I hope this is all helpful. Good luck!
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