Effects of nonverbal intimacy on arousal and behavioral adjustment

The effects of two intimacy manipulations, 80% eye contact (EC) and combined lean, touch, 50% eye contact (LT), were examined in a bogus waiting period involving a male confederate-male subject pairing. Hypothesized arousal increase was found only for the LT manipulation when it occurred later, rather than earlier, in the waiting period. Associated with that increased arousal were weak tendencies for increased eye contact and talking. These results offered limited support for the arousal model of interpersonal intimacy (Patterson, 1976). However, it also appeared that the directing effect of the specific social context qualified the impact and meaning of the confederate's high intimacy.The authors thank Larry Halligan and Joan Naylor for their assistance in conducting this experiment and also Bill Ickes for his constructive comments.This project was completed under National Institute of Health grant, USPH RO1 MH 32386 01 awarded to the first author.