The Unspoken Language

Before a single word is exchanged, attraction can be communicated through body language. Cues like posture, eye contact, proximity, and gestures may signal interest, often without your awareness.

In many Western dating contexts, sustained eye contact with brief look-aways can read as interest. Cultural norms vary, though, so eye contact is never a universal code. In Arthur Aron's famous 1997 study, pairs of strangers grew closer after working through 36 increasingly personal questions together. A popular version later added four minutes of silent eye contact at the end, and the idea that a long mutual gaze speeds up intimacy has stuck ever since.