DOMINANCE HIERARCHIES AND CONFLICT IN EYE CONTACT

The eye-gaze and speech of 10 Ss were measured in dyadic social situations. The experimental design allowed a full investigation of the establishment of hierarchies of eye-gaze dominance, a discussion of which was made in terms of LANDAU'S (1951) hierarchy index. Dominance hierarchies were found to be positively related to eye contact, direct gaze and speech with gaze. A preliminary investigation was made of within- as opposed to between-subject differences. The wide range of within-subject variation which was found seemed to be operating within limits imposed by the dominance hierarchy. Eye-contact results were considered with reference to Affiliation Conflict theory and a method proposed of determining whether approach or avoidance forces are predominant in any particular dyad. © 1968.