Contrasting Interpersonal Correlates of Mutual Eye-Contact Reports by Self and others

Abstract

Four small interpersonal groups' 32 participants estimated each pair's mutual eye contact (MEC) in seconds for 90-min. sessions culminating Hours 6, 22 1/2, 28 1/2, and 45. Individuals also inclusively rated each person's within-group behavior for acceptance of self and of others near Hours 22 and 44. Aggregated to augment reliability, peers' mean estimates of each individual's mutual eye contact showed greater interoccasion consistency and correlated more strongly with each acceptance index than did MEC self-reports. Substantial positive correlations (.47 to .55) between peer-rated self-acceptance and peer-based eye contact consistently exceeded other-acceptance's parallel linkages. In contrast, self-based estimates of mutual eye-contact correlated more positively with acceptance of others than with self-acceptance in all eight separate instances.