This project is centered on applying scientific methods to study human behavior through the gathering of baseline information. The first half of the research will be a naturalistic observation focusing on a behavior, specifically on the use of eye contact between people walking inside the mall, in which the observer remains unobtrusive. The second half of the research will be an experiment, in which a variable is introduced that would either increase or decrease a behavior. The objective is to take note of the behavior change resulting from the variable, which will lead to a particular theory concerning the experiment.
Statement of the Problem
One instinctive behavior found in humans is the tendency to exchange eye contact with other people. However, for a person who is unobtrusive, or one who does not catch the attention or the eye of other people, there is usually the failure to exchange eye contact with the person, since there is no reason for them to look or gape at the person. In whatever place a person may find himself/herself, there is always eye contact taking place, although the frequency would have to depend on a number of things. One example is the physical appearance of the observer, which may increase or decrease the number of times the person exchanges eye contact with other people within the area. Inside the mall, people usually look only at the object that are on sale, or those that are being displayed for customers to buy. The question therefore, is whether eye contact would increase or decrease if an independent variable is added in connection to the dependent variable. What would be the effect if the observer would put on a blue wig and wear a red nose like that of a clown? Would it catch the attention of those around the observer and increase the frequency of people exchanging eye contact with the observer? What gender or age would usually look at other people directly in the eye, whether or not they wear something that catches the eye? What if the observer takes away the blue wig? Would it still increase the frequency of eye contact?
Theory
For most of the times, people prevent themselves from exchanging eye contact with other people inside the mall if there is no reason for them to look at the person in the eye. Usually, people look at another person when there is something in the person’s appearance or action that catches their eye, or something that surprises them to the point that they cannot prevent themselves from staring or gaping at the person. Also, it is most often that people exchange eye contact only with people whom they are personally involved with, or people who they know personally or socially. Another reason why people exchange eye contact is when they have a special reason to look at the person in the eye, such as when they have something to tell or something to ask the person. Inside the mall, for most often people only exchange eye contact with the sales person, the security guards, and those working within the store or the building. Usually, if they have no reason to look at the person in the eye, then they prevent themselves from looking at others in the eye, unless they have something to say.
In this project, there is the prediction that people walking inside the mall do not exchange eye contact with other people, especially with an unobtrusive person who does not catch the attention of other people. People will only look at another person in the eye if there is something in their action or appearance that catches the other person’s attention, or whenever they make an unexpected sound or action that catches other people’s attention. Otherwise, people walking inside the mall will not exchange eye contact with an unobtrusive person if there is nothing quite weird, shocking or alarming on the appearance or the behavior of the person involved. People inside the mall have the tendency to look at other people, but they prevent themselves from looking at others directly in the eye, especially in Western countries. There is higher frequency for those living in Middle Asia but not for those living in North and South America, as well as those living in Europe, where people usually respect the privacy of other people and thus, prefer not to look at the other people in the eye.
Hypothesis
Human behavior may change if there is something in the environment that prompts the person to change their behavior. If, for example, there is no reason for people walking inside the mall to exchange eye contact with another person, that behavior may change if there is something in the appearance of the other person that encourages them to look closely. If the observer is to walk inside a certain mall within the State of [your State] during a Saturday afternoon and put a blue wig and a red nose used for clowns, then the frequency of exchanging eye contact between the observer and other people will greatly increase. This is because, there is something in the appearance of the observer that catches the attention of other people and so, they have a good reason to look at that person in the eye. It would even increase more often if the observer would smile at other people. Other people will have to look at the observer in the eye and exchange unverbal communication, although it is more likely that they will create a positive reaction from other people inside the mall. This suggests the theory that people only exchange eye contact with another person if there is a good reason for them to do so, or if something catches their eye or their ear. Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to look at the person in the eye and thus, would have the tendency to look at the person only sideways, away from exchanging direct eye contact.
This theory only applies to countries around the Western side of the globe, in countries like the American and those of Europe, as well as countries that were occupied by the English and the American governments in the past hundred years. In countries like those in Middle Asia, as well as the black communities, people have greater tendency to look at another person in the eye, even to people who they are not personally aware of. Even to strangers, they have the tendency to look at the person directly in the eye. Eye contact also has something to do with culture and the customs or tradition of the person involved, but in the United States, most people avoid direct eye contact with strangers walking in the mall.
Procedure
In a Saturday afternoon from 3 PM to 5 PM, inside a mall within the State of [your State], the observer in usual clothes will walk around the first floor, and then the second floor, while appearing to be unobtrusive or plain. The experiment is composed of two stages. In the first stage of the experiment, the observer in plain clothes will walk on the first floor in the building at 3 PM to 4 PM. The observer should take down the number of people who will look at him/her directly in the eye, and will have to record if the subject is male or female, and if it is a child, a youth, an adult, or an aged person. In the second stage, the observer will put on a blue wig and a red nose used by clowns, and then walk on the second floor of the same mall from 4 PM to 5 PM on the same day (Saturday), and then record the number of people who will look him/her in the eye. It is better if the observer would smile at other people, so that others will know that it is fine for the observer if they would look at him/her in the eye. The observer would also have to record if it is male or female, and if it is a child, a youth, an adult, or an aged person who exchange eye contact with the observer.
With this, it is evident that in the experiment, the observer will have to be visible to the subject being observed, since the former will have to catch the attention of the latter, so they will look back at the observer in the eye. On the other hand, the data can be collected by using the notes portion in a cellphone, where the observer can take down every person who looks at him/her in the eye, both in a plain appearance and in a clown-like appearance. This particular experiment can be replicated by almost anyone who wanted to know if the number of people who exchange eye contact will increase or decrease after a change in appearance. It will determine whether the theory is correct: that people exchange eye contact when something catches the attention of the subject, such as their physical appearance, the sound that they make, or certain actions that make them look or sound weird to other people.
Results
The following are the results of the experiment during the first stage when the observer walked inside the mall in plain clothes and normal gestures and appearance.
The following are the results of the experiment during the second stage, when the observer put on a blue wig and a red nose (used by clowns), and then smiled at people who were walking on the second floor of the mall one Saturday afternoon.
The following presents a pie graph of the numbers and percentages of the subjects recorded in the experiment, as based on gender, during the second stage when the observer walked inside the mall wearing a blue wig and a red nose (for clown).
Below is a pie graph of the number and percentages of the subjects recorded in the experiment, based on age, during the second stage.
Discussion
As seen in the graphs and tables that were presented in the recent pages, the total number of subjects that were observed, as based on both gender and age, was 26 during the first stage, and 118 during the second stage. As reflected in the numbers, it suggests that the hypothesis and theory mentioned in the recent pages were valid, and that it would increase the frequency of eye contact if something catches the eye of the subject, which would make the subject look at the observer directly in the eye. Otherwise, there would be no need for them to look at the observer directly in the eye, as seen in the experiment. Meanwhile, as based on the numbers, it appears that most of those who looked at the observer directly in the eye during the first and second stages were youth. Also, it appears that children had greater tendency to look at other people in the eye, even if they use plain clothes and have normal appearances and actions. The adult, on the other hand, have greater tendency to exchange eye contact when there is something weird that catches their attention. They are more aware of how others dress themselves, or how others appear physically, as compared to other people. Numbers also show that females have greater tendency to look at people right in the eye, as when compared to males who would not normally look at people in the eye. Those who look at people in the eye were usually female youths who were walking inside the mall at the State of [your State] one Saturday afternoon. Most probably, it is the female youths who are most curious about how others looked or appeared to be, and so they have greater tendency to look more closely in the eye, as compared to other gender, class or sectors.
