Some studies have found that up to 94% of people report that they have experienced the feeling of eyes upon them and turned around to find out they were indeed being watched.
In fact, your brain is wired to inform you that someone is looking at you — even when they're not. “Far from being ESP, the perception originates from a system in the brain that's devoted to detecting where others are looking,” writes social psychologist Ilan Shrira.
The biological phenomenon is known as “gaze detection” or “gaze perception.” Neurological studies have found that the brain cells that initiate this response are very precise. If someone turns their gaze off of you by turning just a few degrees to their left or right, that eerie feeling quickly fades.
Specifically, this study showed that we can detect that people are looking at us within our field of view – perhaps in the corner of our eye – even if we haven't consciously noticed. It shows the brain basis for that subtle feeling that tells us we are being watched.
Because the human eye gaze is optimised for easy detection, it is often easy for us to work out whether someone is looking at us. For example, if someone sitting right opposite you on the train is looking at you, you can register the direction of their gaze without looking directly at them.
“Felt presence” is a phenomenon where you feel that someone or some entity is near you, sometimes accompanied by an actual hallucination of some form. The phenomenon occurs in sleep paralysis (see this blog post) but also in certain neurological conditions. It can even be induced in healthy people while they're awake.
People often stare out of curiosity. We are all curious when we see something new or someone different. Although it can make us feel uncomfortable, people often do this by accident, without meaning to. Not everyone will have met or seen someone who has a visible difference before.
The answer is yes, our minds can sense someone staring at us even when we cannot see it/him/her or are asleep. The explanation for this is that our minds are constantly receiving and processing information from our environment, even when we are not consciously aware of it.
Eye contact is so intense that researchers have even used it to trigger feelings of love. So, if your partner is looking deeply and comfortably into your eyes, it communicates a lot about their desire. “Eye contact is an intimate and vulnerable act, so intense eye contact can be very meaningful,” says Fraley.
Intense eye contact that indicates attraction is called gazing. When someone gazes at you, they maintain longer than usual eye contact. This usually means several seconds of them looking at you. They want you to notice that they are looking!
Eye Contact Is a Two-Way Street: Arousal Is Elicited by the Sending and Receiving of Eye Gaze Information. Research shows that arousal is significantly enhanced while participants make eye contact with a live person compared to viewing a picture of direct or averted gaze.
When a guy stares into your eyes and doesn't look away, he may be trying to size you up. Intently staring can be a good thing and might mean that he likes what he sees. Research indicates that in many cases of prolonged eye contact, both parties are interested in each other or maybe aroused.
For starters, oxytocin and dopamine — the “love hormones” — have an effect on pupil size. Your brain gets a boost of these chemicals when you're sexually or romantically attracted to someone. This surge in hormones appears to make your pupils dilate. Dilation may also be related to the biological need to reproduce.
Basically, undivided and prolonged eye contact can convey that he is more interested in you than you are saying or whatever is happening around you. Maintaining eye contact throughout your interaction with a guy can send a clear message that you are interested in him and pay attention to what he is saying or doing.
Tactile hallucination is the experience of feeling like you're being touched when you're not. It's one of the most common aspects of sleep paralysis. Many people say they feel pressure or contact. It's like something or someone is holding them down.
The first things we usually notice are the other person's head and body positions. If either is pointed in your direction, especially in an unnatural way, this is a big tip-off. The most obvious case is when someone's body is pointed away from you, but their head is turned toward you.
The term “empathy” is used to describe a wide range of experiences. Emotion researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.
Being powerfully present includes an inward awareness of your own emotions, your intention for the conversation (what outcome you want), and your regard for people in room. You also need an outward awareness of people's experience beyond what is apparent.
sting. verb. to affect someone, often causing them to react in a particular way.
Subtly or obviously, an attraction between two people always makes itself shown. When you are physically attracted to a person or emotionally, you don't normally do things. A few signs of true attraction are fidgeting, frequent body contact, making eye contact, free-flowing conversations, and laughs.