Mutual gaze duration as a function of length of conversation in male-female dyads.

To assess the effects of familiarity on the duration of mutual gaze, and other measures of visual interaction, e.g., duration of unilateral gaze and discrepancy in duration between partners, 14 male-female dyads discussed unconditional positive regard for 8 min., after individually studying the topic for 10 min. Mutual gaze duration was significantly longer during the last 2 min. of the discussion than during the first 2 min. This suggests that, after some exposure at least, participants maintain longer durations of mutual gaze. Further, if the duration of mutual gaze is interpreted as a measure of intimacy, even a relatively short social interaction appears to increase the intimacy between two individuals of opposite sex. However, it is not clear whether these findings could be generalized to male-male and female-female dyads.