Digital technology has been a lifeline during the COVID-19 health crisis. Yet, its impact on human relationships remains complex. It allows for work and connection in many domains, but does so in ways that are often intrusive, exhausting, and potentially corrosive to face-to-face relationships.
Still face
Today, with the ubiquity of mobile technology, visual synchrony between people is frequently disrupted. Are humans becoming strangers to each others’ eyes—and does it matter?
My colleagues and I studied this question by repeating an experiment developed over 40 years ago called the Still Face.
In the experiment, parents freely play with their young children, but then are instructed to be unresponsive by holding their faces still and inexpressive for a few minutes. This still face period is followed by a period of repair called the reunion, when parents respond normally again.
The three-part experiment—play, still face, reunion—creates a microcosm in which researchers study the…
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Source : fastcompany.com
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