It’s a creepy feeling, isn’t it? You’re sitting in a room, minding your own business, when suddenly you get the uncanny sense that someone is watching you. You look around, but see no one. Still, the feeling persists. Could it be true? Can humans actually sense when someone is staring at them, even when they can’t see the person?
The feeling of being watched
Most people have experienced the feeling of being watched at some point. You might be sitting on the train, standing in line at the store, or walking down a hallway, when you suddenly feel like unseen eyes are focused on you. This sensation goes by many names – the sense of being stared at, the feeling of eyes on one’s back, scopaesthesia. Whatever you call it, it’s unmistakable – and slightly unnerving.
In fact, studies show that the feeling of being watched is quite common. In one survey, nearly 90% of respondents said they had experienced the phenomenon at least once. Only a small percentage of people claimed they had never felt like they were under observation when no one was actually there.
This prevalence across cultures suggests the feeling of being stared at is not just a fanciful illusion or cultural construct. Rather, it points to an innate human ability to detect covert attention from others. As anthropologist Edward T. Hall wrote in The Hidden Dimension, “staring is probably the most crucial test of all the sense we employ in unconsciously reading other people.” The sensation of scopaesthesia may be key to this innate “sixth sense” for attention from others.
Possible explanations
What could explain the spooky – yet common – feeling of being watched? There are several theories.
Subconscious sensory cues
One possibility is that we pick up on subtle sensory cues from the watcher without consciously realizing it. Even if someone is lurking behind you, you might hear faint sounds, catch a whiff of perfume or cologne, or notice a shadow or light blocked. Your brain then puts together these subconscious cues to deduce that someone is there.
Experiments testing this theory had watchers stare at subjects through a window. Even when the watchers wore perfume and amplified their heartbeat sounds, the subjects were no better at detecting when they were being watched. This suggests sensory leakage cues are not the main factor.
Electromagnetic energy
Some believe we can literally feel people’s gazes on our skin due to electromagnetic energy. The idea is that the act of focusing visual attention on someone generates a subtle electromagnetic field that can be sensed. However, controlled experiments attempting to detect these energy fields have not found any evidence to support this theory.
A related idea is that the watcher’s gaze gives off low-level radiation that is consciously or subconsciously picked up by the staree’s retina. But again, tests for this have failed to reveal any energy emissions or retinal reception.
Quantum entanglement
One far-out theory comes from quantum physics. The quantum entanglement hypothesis suggests that when someone stares at you, your “quantum minds” become entangled, and you perceive that you’re being watched. However, there is no evidence that quantum processes are involved in sensory perception in this macroscopic way.
Intuition and extrasensory perception
Perhaps the sense of being watched relies on a sixth sense – an intuition or premonition that someone has focused their attention on you. This kind of extrasensory perception (ESP) allowing one to remote view the gaze of others would certainly explain how the phenomenon works. However, ESP remains controversial due to the difficulty demonstrating such abilities scientifically.
More research is needed to uncover solid evidence of ESP that could account for the apparent ability to detect covert observation from others. Still, some psychologists and parapsychologists argue that the feeling of being stared at points to our latent ESP capacities.
Mind-to-mind communication
A more mainstream hypothesis is that the sense of unseen gazes depends on direct mind-to-mind communication. Also known as “intersubjectivity”, this theory proposes that two people can directly and non-verbally sense each other’s thoughts, emotions, and focus of attention. Through this cognitive connection, you can detect when someone covertly spots you in their visual attention.
Some experiments provide evidence for a direct line of communication between minds when being stared at, even without sensory cues. However, critics argue that more controlled research is needed to definitively demonstrate this psychic channel between starers and starees.
Scientific research on the sense of being stared at
What does scientific research have to say about the phenomenon of sensing unseen gazes? A number of studies have investigated the idea over the past few decades. While some support the validity of the sixth sense, others have failed to replicate the effect under rigorous controls.
Here is a summary of some key experiments on the feeling of being watched when no one is physically there:
Tests by parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrake
In early experiments, subjects sat with their back turned while another person stared at them from behind. The subjects attempted to detect when they were being gazed at. Results showed they correctly sensed they were being stared at significantly more often than chance would predict.
However, critics pointed out methodological problems. More rigorous studies led by skeptic Richard Wiseman failed to replicate Sheldrake’s results when proper controls were added.
MRI brain scan experiments
Neuroscientist Colin Blakemore had subjects lay in a brain scanner while being stared at through a window by a researcher. The MRI detected no changes in brain activity whether or not the subject was being covertly observed. Blakemore concluded there was no neural basis for the sense of unseen gazes.
However, some argued that the abnormal MRI environment prevented the staring detection ability from functioning normally in subjects.
Tests monitoring sweat gland activity
Psychologist Edward Titchener had people stare at others while monitoring the starees’ sweat gland activity, which indicates anxiety. There was no increase in sweat gland activity when subjects were being secretly watched, suggesting no detection of the stares.
Critics argued that the sweat measure was not sensitive enough to pick up on the purported staring detection phenomenon.
Experiments creating false sensations of being watched
Skeptic Richard Wiseman conducted tests where he secretly filmed people so it seemed like they were being watched via a hidden CCTV camera. Many experienced the feeling of being stared at even though no one was actually there.
Wiseman argued this shows the feeling can arise from psychological factors alone, and not from any real detection of covert observation. However, others pointed out that Wiseman’s illusion of being videotaped does not rule out people’s ability to sense real gazes directed at them.
Experiments on animals
Some research has explored whether animals seem to demonstrate a sense of being stared at. For example, studies on pet dogs found they oriented their head and eyes more often towards a person who was staring versus looking away from them. This was true even when the human’s eyes were not visible to the dogs.
Rabbits have also been observed to orient themselves toward people gazing at them when the humans are behind a two-way mirror. More research is needed, but this may indicate a broader biological basis for covert gaze detection abilities.
Tests on twins
Twin studies can illuminate whether genetics may play a role. Identical twins share 100% of genes, while non-identical twins share around 50% on average. Some small pilot studies found identical twins scored higher in demonstrating the sense of being stared at. This hints there could be a heritable component influencing the phenomenon.
However, larger twin studies are needed to confirm if there is truly a genetic basis. Environmental factors shared by twins could also account for the preliminary findings.
Conclusion
So does the research ultimately confirm that we humans have a “sixth sense” allowing us to detect unseen gazes? The jury is still out.
On one hand, many people sincerely report experiences of sensing when someone is covertly staring at them. Some studies back up these anecdotal reports, finding evidence that people can correctly identify when they are being watched at rates greater than chance. The phenomenon appears prevalent across cultures, ages, and even species.
On the other hand, many experiments have failed to replicate the effect under rigorous scientific controls. There is also no agreed upon explanation for how such an ability might work. The sense remains elusive under the microscope of science.
For now, the only way to know if you have the talent is to test it yourself. Next time you get that spine-tingling feeling that someone is watching you, turn around and find out if you were right. With more research, one day we may better understand the mechanisms behind this uncanny phenomenon.