Interviewees' Reported Level of Comfort as a Function of an Interviewer's Visual Attention

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that subjects would feel most comfortable when interacting with someone who looked at them 50% of the time, less comfortable with someone who looked continuously, and least comfortable with someone who never looked. 30 male undergraduates were interviewed individually by a male interviewer who gazed at them either continuously, 50% of the time, or not at all. Contrary to expectations, subjects in the 50% condition reported they were least comfortable while there were no differences between subjects in the other two conditions.