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PSI CHI: The International Honor Society in Psychology

The International Honor Society in Psychology

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The Influence of Duration of Eye Contact on Evaluation of a Potential Employee

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by Laura P. Napieralski, Nicole L. Glassberg, and Charles I. Brooks* - King's College

Categories: I/O | Personality | Social


Male and female college students were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 groups and viewed a 60-s videotape. The content of the tape was derived from the factorial combination of sex of model in the tape and duration of eye contact (5 s, 30 s, or 50 s) maintained by the model with an interviewer. Participants viewed the tape, indicated whether or not they would hire the model, and answered other questions evaluating expected quality of job performance. The results showed as models’ duration of eye contact increased, participants indicated they would be more likely to hire the model; their expectations of the models’ quality of performance also increased with increased maintenance of eye contact. These results were the same for both the male and female models and male and female participants.

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