What Your Eyes Can Tell ...

Did you know that your eyes can tell others a lot about what you really think and feel in a given moment? It was observed by scientists since 1980's that our pupils behave in a very unique way in certain situations. Also, we are completely unconscious about this reaction!

It was discovered that childless men react to babies differently than women and men who do have children. The men who are childless demonstrate pupil constriction whereas all the rest react to babies with pupil dilation. Moreover, pupil signals are not only sent unconsciously but also unconsciously received. It turns out that two friends will feel stronger emotions if their pupils are dilated, and girls with wider pupils will be considered more attractive and more charming than girls with constricted pupils.

Similar results were found when testing sexual reactions. Both girls and boys reacted to photographs of naked bodies of the opposite sex by pupil dilation with the exception of gays and lesbians. Interestingly, pictures of old ladies were highly rated when participants were asked for verbal opinion but their ratings went down dramatically when pupils constriction and dilation were analysed.

Men who are girl chasers and conquerors tend to react to other girls with constricted pupils whereas men who are looking for a close relationship will demonstrate pupil dilation. The girl hunters will also prefer a girl whose pupils are constricted too, as they tend to avoid close relationships. On the other hand, young lovers spend long hours looking into each other's eyes because it strongly increases their emotional excitement.

It is little known that courtesans in Italy used deadly nightshade plant in the form of eye drops many hundred yeas ago because they wanted to look more attractive. The plant which dilated their pupils, is called Belladonna in Italy meaning “a beautiful woman”. The plant is used in medicine as a tincture to treat several conditions but we must remember that it can be poisonous and only a doctor can prescribe it.

Also, we need to be very careful in trade or when negotiating because whenever we become excited about an offer or a product, our pupils dilate and reveal to the other side that a higher price can be demanded. Chinese jade dealers and traders tended to wear sunglasses in order to conceal their interest in particularly valuable stones. However, pupil dilations can signal surprise and uncertainty, too [2], so we must be careful how we are interpreting this reaction.

So, please, remember whenever you say something, your eyes will tell the truth!

[1] Claudio Lavin et al., Pupil dilation signals uncertainty and surprise in a learning gambling task, Front. Behav. Neurosci., 03 January 2014
[2] Desmond Morris, Man Watching, Jonathan Cape 1977
[3] Picture from pixabay.com