Examples of pressures that can cause rapid blinking include the following:Normal stress.Sometimes a high blinking rate doesn’t mean anything
more than that a person is under pressure.
Lying.When people lie, their energy increases, and when concocting an
answer to a difficult question their thinking process speeds up. However,
just to confuse you, sometimes liars slow down their blinking rate.During the Watergate hearings President Nixon’s rate of blinking increased
measurably whenever he was asked a question he didn’t want to answer.Blinking less frequently than normal
When you’re speaking and the listener is staring at you in a zombie-like fash-
ion, you’re probably boring her to distraction. A sure sign that you’ve lost her
attention is the infrequency of eye blinks and the dull glaze that comes over
her eyes.Lack of blinking can be a sign of boredom, hostility, or indifference to what-
ever is happening, but it doesn’t have to be. Confident people, for example,
establish more and longer eye contact than people who are uncertain or are
attempting to hide something. Although they blink less, they come across as
interested listeners. (To find out more about how confident people use eye
contact, refer to the earlier section ‘The Power of the Held Gaze’.)Lack of blinking can cause your cornea – the clear, thin top layer of the eye –
to become dehydrated. Your vision becomes blurry and you don’t see as well.Active eyebrows: The Eyebrow Flash ................................................
Since ancient times people have initiated their greetings with the rapid rais-
ing and lowering of their eyebrows. Although this action can be so subtle as
to be invisible to the naked or untrained eye, the gesture draws attention to
the face in order to exchange clear signals of acknowledgement. When you
greet another person, you unconsciously raise your eyebrows in recognition.Except in Japan where the movement is considered rude and has sexual
implications, the Eyebrow Flash is universal and is even used by monkeys
and apes to express recognition and social greeting. People who don’t use
the Eyebrow Flash when being introduced can be perceived as potentially
aggressive.88 Part II: Starting at the Top