Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
05:32
Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos
Published on: December 7, 2018
Gaze avoidance in social phobia: objective measure and correlates.
Albert Moukheiber1, Gilles Rautureau, Fernando Perez-Diaz
1CNRS USR 3246, UPMC, Hôpital Pitié-Salpétrière, Paris, France. amoukheiber@gmail.com
Behaviour Research and Therapy
|October 30, 2009
Summary
Individuals with social phobia exhibit reduced eye contact, avoiding gaze at emotional faces. This gaze aversion correlates with phobia severity, suggesting it
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Gaze aversion is potentially central to social phobia's (SP) pathophysiology.
- Emotional cues from others may influence gaze aversion in individuals with SP.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gaze aversion patterns in social phobia patients compared to controls.
- To examine responses to emotional faces of varying genders.
Main Methods:
- Utilized eye-tracking technology to monitor fixations and dwell time in the eye region.
- Recruited 26 subjects with DSM-IV social phobia and 24 age/sex-matched healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Social phobia patients showed significantly fewer fixations and less dwell time on eyes.
- Reduced eye contact was consistent across all 6 basic emotions and independent of face gender.
- A significant correlation was found between SP severity and the degree of gaze avoidance.
Conclusions:
- Eye avoidance is a robust behavioral marker for social phobia.
- This finding supports eye avoidance as a potential phenotype for neuroimaging studies in social phobia.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is characterized by an intense fear of social situations where one might face humiliation, rejection, embarrassment, or negative evaluation. This disorder leads individuals to avoid activities like casual conversations, public speaking, or seemingly simple tasks such as eating, signing documents, or swimming, in public settings. Its impact extends beyond discomfort, often significantly interfering with daily functioning and quality of life.
01:24Prosopagnosia
Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. In severe cases, individuals with prosopagnosia may not recognize close family members, including parents and spouses, by their faces. For instance, someone with prosopagnosia might walk past their child in a crowd, only realizing their mistake upon noticing their child's distinctive backpack or favorite jacket. Prosopagnosia specifically impairs facial recognition, while the recognition of other objects or...
01:09Preparedness and Phobias
Human fear responses to certain stimuli, such as darkness, heights, deep water, and blood, can often arise despite the absence of direct negative experiences. This phenomenon is rooted in evolutionary psychology, which posits that humans have developed a predisposition to fear stimuli that historically posed significant survival threats. This predisposition, known as preparedness, suggests that early humans who developed a fear of potentially dangerous entities, such as venomous snakes and...