跨文化交际之眼神交流

Eye behavior across cultures An important part of the language of movement is the way people use their eyes. Eye behavior is different from one culture to another and also varies within cultures by gender, age, and social status. In the United States high status and socially confident individuals have more eye contact than do submissive or anxious persons. For Americans the speaker who uses more eye contact seems more relaxed, more informal, and yet more authoritative. Teachers and others who do a lot of public speaking receive special instructions on how to establish and maintain eye contact with an audience. They are usually told to meet one person's eye, rest there for a moment and then to move their gaze to another person in another part of the audience. In this way the audience feels that the speaker is speaking directly to each individual.