Attention to others during social interactions is higher in young adults as compared to older citizens or adolescents. Young people pay way more attention to faces during social contacts.

Why are social cues important for a face-to-face interaction?

During a face-to-face conversation people pay attention to words as well as to nonverbal signals (a body posture, facial expressions, gestures, a tone of voice). Recently, scientists discovered that individuals pay a different amount of attention to nonverbal cues throughout the lifespan, Sciencedaily.com reported.

The combination of words and nonverbal attributes of an interaction helps individuals make the right conclusion about intentions, emotions, mood, wishes, and beliefs of a conversation partner. All these cues promote a successful social interaction which is important for understanding each other, developing soft skills, and mental wellbeing.

Social engagement is crucial for all and especially for adolescents (10-19 years) and older (above 60 years) generation. Adolescents experience the world and build relationships with society through communication. This is why it is very important for them to assess all aspects of the interaction to avoid difficulties during communication. For the older people communication with others is vital to remain emotionally stable, to continue being engaged in social life, and to avoid isolation.

The combination of words and nonverbal attributes of an interaction helps individuals make the right conclusion about intentions, emotions, mood, wishes, and beliefs of a conversation partner.

The first of its kind study

Professor Ferguson and his team at the University of Kent’s School of Psychology conducted a study to detect time spent on attention to faces by people of different ages. Notably, nobody has done such an experiment before.

The participants were divided into three subgroups: adolescents (10-19 years old), young (20-40 years old) people, and older (60-80 years old) population.  All of them were assessed during two real social interactions using special eye-tracking glasses.

During a face-to-face conversation, adolescents and the older generation spent more time paying attention to surroundings rather than to an opponent’s face in comparison to young people. The same findings were observed in the second scenario where the examinees were walking around the University in a rush hour.

The research team believes that adolescents and senior citizens find it difficult to concentrate on body cues and tend to avoid looking for long at facial expressions and analyze their signals.

This study helps in the first step in understanding how social interaction changes during the lifespan. Moreover, further studies of this subject may reveal interesting facts about cognition and daily communication in different age groups.

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