When Rooney Mara portrayed Lisbeth Salander in the film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), she learned to move and gesture in ways to convey the hurt and fury her avenging character experiences. But Mara said that her character’s eye behavior was particularly hard to master. Contrary to the norms of interaction, Salander never looks into the face of others, keeping her gaze downcast or sideways (Ryzik, 2012). Oculesics is the study of the use of the eyes to communicate—which includes Salander’s gaze aversion.

Newborn infants (two to five days old) stare significantly longer at faces offering a direct gaze rather than an averted one. The babies orient themselves more often toward the face that makes eye contact with them. Babies as young as three months old smile less when adults avert their gaze and begin smiling more when adults resume eye contact (Farroni, Csibra, Simion, & Johnson, 2002).

There are some cultural variations in gazing with children. For example, European American parents gaze more at their children, especially between mothers and sons. Mexican American parents, on the other hand, spend less time making eye contact with children. Accordingly, children gaze more directly at fathers in European American homes than in Mexican American homes (Schofield, Parke, Castañeda, & Coltrane, 2008). Perhaps children in Mexican American homes gaze less directly at fathers as a sign of respect for the cultural hierarchy in the family.

The human gaze remains important beyond childhood. You use direct eye contact with a hiring manager in a job interview in the United States to make a stronger impression. In more personal relationships, you look at a friend differently than you look at your significant other and very differently from someone you dislike intensely. Each glance can send a message of liking, loving, attraction, or contempt (see Table 4.1).