Rubbernecking has its perks

If you see someone staring at a billboard, chances are you’ll stare at it, too. The behavior seems natural enough; you want to know what has caught their eye. But during this moment of “joint attention,” something else happens: The person looking at the billboard will quickly—and unconsciously—glance sideways to make sure you’re staring at the same thing. This “gaze leading,” reported online today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, helps us understand social situations, the authors say. Gaze leading makes the difference between a coincidental sighting, and a “truly social” interaction. In the billboard example, when the gaze leader looks back to confirm that the follower sees the object, they facilitate shared attention, making it easier to discuss, mock, or purchase whatever’s on that billboard. Gaze leading enhances nonverbal communication for a lot of social interactions, from teaching infants their first words to inconspicuously pointing out someone across the room. Though it’s not confirmed, the researchers think that gaze leading can spur “social rewards,” like making new friends or forging new relationships. It could even help identify group leaders—on a team for instance, if one team member’s gaze is often followed, he or she could more easily stand out as a leader. www.glorybios.com