How Do Your Eyes Give You Away?

Can you feel it? The love that is in the air! Today is Valentine’s Day, which means that couples all over will be taking their loved ones out on special or romantic dates. Whether you head out to a fancy restaurant, stay in for a romantic home cooked meal, or go on an exciting adventure, you’ll want to make sure that everything goes just as planned. But (as we all know) there is always opportunity for things to go wrong. Imagine this – you are enjoying a nice sit-down dinner when all of a sudden, your date releases a firing squad of questions at you. Questions you might not have been expecting to answer, such as, “How is my cooking?” or “I know you love me, but do you really love my mother?” or “What do you think about a summer wedding?”  (The last question could be even more dangerous if you aren’t even engaged yet!)

You may be able to remain cool under pressure and produce a crowd-pleasing answer with body language that will follow suit, but did you know that while you are answering these questions the “right” way, your eyes could be giving you away? We have come up with a list to help you prepare yourself for what your eyes could be doing to give you away – when under pressure this Valentine’s Day.

Pupil Size: The most well-known of your eyes’ involuntary actions is the dilation (opening) and miosis (constricting) of pupils. When faced with an object or person you love, the size of your pupils will increase. On the contrary, when faced with something you despise or are disgusted by, your pupils will contract. Your pupils will also constrict when you are in a stressful situation.

Eye Twitch: While some may attribute a twitchy eye to extreme distaste or dislike of something, there are actually hundreds of known causes of eye twitching. Everything from stress to too much caffeine to a lack of potassium in your diet can cause one or both of your eyes to twitch. So, if your eyes start twitching, don’t take it as a sign of negative body language. Although that might be the cause, there could be other things that are the cause of it as well.

Angled Eyes: Many detectives and interrogators will make sure to pay attention to this next one. Studies have shown that when a person is telling a lie, they tend to look up and to the right; while when they are telling the truth, they will look up and to the left. Now, this isn’t true for everyone. The direction someone looks all correlates to how they deal with information. Many people even look down when they are dealing with answering a more emotional question.

Blinking: When reading or daydreaming, the average person tends to blink less (usually 8-21 blinks per minute, while at rest). When someone is under pressure (or even lying), his or her blink rate is known to increase dramatically. They may blink normally while lying, but their blink rate will speed up around 8 times faster than usual after they finish telling a lie. Bill Clinton was said to have blinked over 92 times per minute during his deposition. (Think he was under a lot of stress?)

Rubbing Eyes: If someone asks a favor of you and you don’t necessarily agree with doing it, make sure not to rub your eyes. This sign is more related to body language than your eyes, but either way, it shows that you are clearly uncomfortable with the request just made of you.

Eye Contact: Did you know that when someone is lying they tend to make more eye contact than usual? It’s as if they are looking deep into your eyes to see if you are buying their story. If someone makes eye contact for longer than two seconds without breaking (while answering a question) you can be sure they may be hoping you won’t see right through their lies.  

Glazed Over Eyes: If you are enjoying your meal and are in the middle of a drawn-out saga about Jim from the office and how he is your least favorite person – and you notice your date start to look far to the side or half close their eyelids, you might want to think about saving the rest of your story for another day. This “glazed over” look is a telltale sign that they are bored and are starting to shut down some of the input to conserve their energy and brain power. If you want to avoid doing this, make sure to keep your eyes wide open and your attention directed right at your date.

After reading this blog, you can probably think of at least one time in your life (if not within the last week) where you experienced each of these involuntary eye movements. Fear no more, for you are prepared to combat any “involuntary” eye movements you or your date may show this Valentine’s Day. So when your wife asks you if you really like her mother and wouldn’t mind her staying with you next month, make sure not to blink too fast, rub your eyes, make too much eye contact, or look up and to the right when you answer. You might also want to take precautionary measures, such as buying a nice big bar of dark chocolate for your date. Did you know that dark chocolate can help improve your vision and sharpen your brain?

If you need help finding more ways to improve your vision, pay a visit to your local Site for Sore Eyes store! Our eye care experts can assess your current vision and make recommendations to help you improve it! On that note, we leave you with wishes of a happy and romantic Valentine’s Day.