How eyes are used to communicate submission For t errit orial and solit ary species, f light is t he nat ural solut ion t o a conf lict where it looks as if one’s going t o lose. For t hese species it ’s bet t er t o run away and live t o f ight anot her day t han t o risk being injured. In a social species like ours, f light isn’t really an opt ion because our lives are based on co-operat ion. T his means t hat we can’t simply run away when t here’s a conf ront at ion – we need t o f ind ways of living t oget her. One way t o do t his is t hrough t he rit ualist ic medium of submissive displays. T hese enable us t o resolve conf lict s wit hout damage or loss of lif e, and t hey allow us t o cont inue working t oget her. When we look more closely at submission displays we discover t hat t hey cont ain symbolic element s of f light . T his is not iceable in t he way t hat members of social species use t heir eyes. When t hey meet a dominant individual, t hey engage in what t he zoologist Michael Chance called ‘cut - of f ’ – t hat is, t hey avert t heir gaze so as t o visually remove t he dominant individual f rom view. T his has several import ant ef f ect s f or submissive people. First ly, by removing t he dominant person f rom view, t he subordinat e person is bet t er able t o reduce t heir sense of f ear. Cut -of f is like a psychological f orm of f light – it enables individuals t o remove pot ent ial at t ackers f rom t heir mind. Secondly, cut -of f shows t hat t he subordinat e person has no int ent ion of at t acking t he dominant person. T hat ’s because looking at t he ot her person could be a prelude t o at t ack, whereas looking away is a preparat ion f or def ense. T hirdly, t he act of looking away and demeaning oneself act ually serves t o ‘cut of f ’ any aggression f rom t he dominant person. T hat ’s because submission displays are hard-wired. When we are conf ront ed wit h someone who’s t rying t o look small, def enseless and weak, our aggressive impulses aut omat ically swit ch of f . T here are several ocular tells associat ed wit h submission:
THE EYE-DIP
People f requent ly avert t heir gaze downwards in order t o appear submissive. T his is usually a deliberat e act ion, and it is designed t o placat e someone who’s more dominant . T he Eye-dip is also used as a f lirt at ious signal.
THE EYE-SHUTTLE
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