Subliminal gaze cues increase preference levels for items in the gaze direction

ABSTRACT

Another individual’s gaze automatically shifts an observer’s attention to a location. This reflexive response occurs even when the gaze is presented subliminally over a short period. Another’s gaze also increases the preference level for items in the gaze direction; however, it was previously unclear if this effect occurs when the gaze is presented subliminally. This study showed that the preference levels for nonsense figures looked at by a subliminal gaze were significantly greater than those for items that were subliminally looked away from (Task 1). Targets that were looked at by a subliminal gaze were detected faster (Task 2); however, the participants were unable to detect the gaze direction (Task 3). These results indicate that another individual’s gaze automatically increases the preference levels for items in the gaze direction without conscious awareness.

KEYWORDS:

• Gaze
• attention
• subliminal
• preference

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities [grant number S1311039]; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.