I am a relatively new eyeglasses wearer (1.5 years) and have developed
an amateur hypothesis that the wearing of eyeglasses *slightly*
inhibits the development of personal connections in isolated
encounters.  Not in the formation of long-term business or personal
relationships, but in the outcome of momentary, ephemeral contact.

Since I have started wearing glasses I have noticed that it is more
difficult  for me to make and hold eye contact with people I meet in
passing - store clerks, the coffee guy, bank tellers, etc.  The result
is that I have less satisfying exchanges in these encounters.  The
possibility of it having to do with two thin pieces of glass barely
obscuring my eyes fascinates me.

I am looking for documented case studies that support this idea.  The
results of a well-executed research study with validated control and
test groups would be nice.  An answer that merely echoes my basic
"guess" with anecdotal evidence would not be satisfactory.

gasoline

i wear glasses but i dont seem to have the same problem you have 8-)
maybe its the type of glasses you are wearing?

Dear Gasoline, 

I didn't find any researches that may help you (a note to other
researchers: Because of time, I didn't look to hard, so you may want
to keep trying...) - but I did find the following quote:
"Often the same learner will look towards a persons eyes only when
that person (not the learner!) is wearing spectacles. It is therefore
worth experimenting to see if a person may be identified in this way.
The reflectiveness of their glasses may be varied by moving towards
and away from a light shining from behind the learner's head.

This technique may also be used in reverse. If the learner does not
seem to be attending to faces, but does seem to be attending to the
reflective surface of spectacles, then this can be paired with
something that the learner prefers. Suppose a young child likes being
tickled. As soon as the child looks at the glasses, tickle him. Then
remove your glasses. After a time, tickle him while he is looking in
that direction, even though no glasses may be worn at that time."

(Scottish Sensory Centre, Vision for Doing, Chapter 7 ASSESSING VISION
FOR DOING
Section 16 Visual Responses to People
<http://www.ssc.mhie.ac.uk/vfdh/vfdch7s16.html>).

In other words, it could be that some people lose their attention to
your eyes, especially if your glasses reflect too much on them.

I would expect that any anecdotal evidence found online would be of
the paranoid nature. As someone who began wearing specs in his teenage
years, I believe that all my concerns were about negative thoughts
towards specs wearers in general, rather than any logical basis for
not connecting.

These days specs can be made to be virtually invisible, as is
evidenced by Australia's popular leader John Howard:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1670000/images/_1671745_howard150ap.jpg

Or it could be that certain people lose self-confidence when wearing
glasses (due to pre-conceptions) and that is the underlying problem.

My guess is that it would be a very difficult topic to study. How do
you find subjects who do not care one iota whether they wear specs or
not?

It seems that people may perceive that you have already made eye
contact.  See: http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/eye_contact/paper.pdf
[Figure 3. Sensitivity to eye appearance, experiment 2.] where a male
with dark brown eyes wearing glasses was perceived more than others as
having made eye contact.

Also see: http://www.rmit.edu.au/departments/ps/staffpgs/jackson/Lecture12.doc

"In forming impressions of other people, most of us pay attention not
only to the relatively static cues such as appearance and
attractiveness but also to the more dynamic, stylistic aspects of a
person's behaviour. Static cues   - Reveal information in forming
initial impressions" (may include glasses)

And finally, http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~enhF94/kinesics.html  "How do
we communicate with those we don't know?"

"In his book The First Four Minutes (1972), Leonard Zunin suggests
that we communicate with those we don't know mostly through our eyes.
We pay great attention to eyes in our culture, he says, as evidenced
by the great amounts of eye-care products available: makeup, contact
lenses, eyelashes, glasses, etcetera.

"Finally, Zunin describes the 'Look-away priority,' a norm which
guides a stranger who is looking at someone to look away after eye
contact is made. Slightly prolonging the look-away, of course, is seen
as a sign of attraction or of dominance."

A possible hypothesis may be that if you notice that others look away,
they may believe that they have already made eye contact and even that
they may find you attractive.

I think your hypothesis is correct, but stay with minor, momentary,
ephemerial, to avoid being inhibited about your new glasses.  Neil

Placing an ARC (antireflective coating) on your specs (usually around $50.00)
makes them nearly invisible.

put the last two comments together and you have essentially a non-issue

I appreciate the comments from all.  To clarify my situation:

I wear very contemporary, low-correction glasses and they are quite
inobtrusive.  I have an AR coating on them as well.

When I have conversations with friends and family I notice no
difference in behavior, and my girlfriend has indicated that she
doesn't see my glasses as an impediment to our eye contact.

To those who also wear glasses and don't find the same to be true -
observe carefully the way other people's eyes focus on your face, for
how long, and on what feature.  The change in behaviour is subtle but
real.  Again, this is when encounters occur with strangers in passing,
where no personal capital is affecting the encounter partner's
perception and reaction.

A more important issue would be the change in wave-lengths absorbed.
 Ott patented a glass that let UV through because he believed this was
a health issue. ( This was for glazing, but it was over 15 years ago
that I reaearched this issue.)
 It may be that there are subtle variations in Vit.  D manufacture in
the body, and that melatonin production is altered and  IMO this would
be the most likely reason why   dark glasses  may effect the immune
system.

aga: that's very interesting.
does it have anything even remotely to do with the question that was posed?

Hi Gasoline,

I don't wear glasses but I understand what you're talking about. I
think you're absolutely correct. From my own experience on 'the other
side' I think its harder to 'connect' with someone who wears glasses,
not long term just an instant when you first look at someone. Perhaps
that thin barrier 'distances' people.

Just thought I'd tell you so you don't think you're going crazy and
nobody believes you! If there is no study, perhaps you should do one
yourself! How interesting.

Jenjerina

Yes I feel the same as you, especially when I am looking at the
Gioconda at the Louvres museum. She looks back at me funny and I dont
like it...