My girl asked an interesting question that I am researching but have surprisingly few results for. Why do people squint when they can't HEAR something clearly or well?


We both understand squinting as it relates to vision, but is there some underlying primitive instinct that causes people to sometimes squint when something is difficult to hear?

Maybe its time for some medical checkup. Or so much video games and Tablets. No outdoor activity. ahah just kidding... just sharing my thought...

my girl is observant. I notice too that sometimes when people can't hear, they not only move their ear closer but squint their eyes. She is just curious and now I am too ..

best answer i ever came up with is 2 fold

one it's as close as peeps can get to turning their ear like some animals plus
two subconscious effort to tune out other distractions

Could be related to the fact that when one sense..in this case sight..is obstructed, the other senses become more keen. Blind people have much better sense of hearing and smell then people with sight.
Just a possibility of primitive reflexes.

ahhh ... minimize distractions ... that makes sense. Thanks folks.

The second one makes sense to me Eric. I don't recall squinting, but when I was in school and needed to tune out distractions from other students, I would sit up front and look directly at the teacher to "hear" what he was saying.

the first one kinda goes along with bobbing and weaving when playing a video game or watching a your favorite team making a really great play

Ah, yes.... it seems to help with concentrating for some reason. I do remember doing that, lol.

Didn't research it but...

It might have to do with shutting out one sense to define another more clearly?

Why do people turn down the radio when driving and are lost?
Again, refocusing their senses.

Yeah, I think it has to do with when you are trying to concentrate on one thing, better to cut out your other senses. Sometimes when I listen to music and I really want to hear it, I close my eyes. If I'm driving in an unfamiliar town, especially a big town, I have to turn off the radio so I can focus.

Yes, exactly what I would say tom. shutting down one sense usually helps. although in theory it would take more than a few seconds,as with blind or death people who master it over time.

Yeah, I'm thinking it is an unconscious refocusing of the senses.
I do know I shut my eyes for songs that I really like, when possible. I visualize the musicians.

Well, unless I'm watching Animusic then its better with eyes open.
Animusic 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxMLGYO6UHA
Animusic 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXSibrIcbX8

While I haven't noticed the squinting, what I have noticed is what seems to be an automatic "what" or "huh?" And then you have to repeat yourself...
I find it's best to get their attention first , gain eye contact and then comment or ask the question..

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I can relate to this ..I'm NOT kidding

I work in customers & public service-relation/s field and YES,
I SQUINT when I don't need/want to hear what I expect to hear it
And that's NO BULL

I think, ( I'm NOT an expert just for you people to know),
but it has to do with
INSTINCT REACTION TO SENSITIVE THOUGHTS & MEANINGS via FILTRATION/S BY SELECTIVE HEARING/S.

I don't understand,please clarify?

Sheer focusing and concentrating. Trying to hear what you need to hear, but at the same time your brain kicks in to work out what you are hearing / supposed to hear based on other references.
Other references being context, the situation, lip movement of another person, memories of similar sounds and so on.
So you don't just use your hearing but also your brain's substantial 'database of sounds' to fill in the gaps. This requires thinking/concentration. When we do that, we tend to squint a little.

*****************************************
. .Now I don't understand what you don't

But I am confident that you, know that sometimes WE,
are SENSITIVE to some WORDS, THOUGHTS & MEANINGS we HEAR
from others, and WE have NO CHOICE, but to REACT,
by using the FILTER of SELECTIVE HEARING/S.
And that, makes some people also SQUINT

Hope that helps ??

Otherways think of BODY LANGUAGE ?? We all somehow using it daily,
some even without knowing it...A plus for the reader

PS:..Like I said, I don't think I am an expert,
but I know B.S. when I hear one
And actually that's when I SQUINT

Just like when we write poetry, novels,
or whatever one decides to write.

Some reader/s will know your ( At that moment ) feelings, emotion/s
or thoughts you had when you write yours ( Whatever ).

Could be for all sorts of reasons. Depends on what is being said, any context to the conversation, the situation, the relationship between the people.

Could be they're a student sitting in the back of the class, can't hear the teacher very well so are squinting in order to read shape and motion of lips and/or body language more clearly to compensate, instead of shouting out "what!?" in the middle of class.

Could be that they're in a situation or listening to something that is triggering some level of fear response and it's an automatic response to seek out the specific danger.

Could be they're in a social situation and they've learned that squinting while unable to hear indirectly communicates to the person speaking they need to speak louder, without interrupting them which would be rude.
Or they've learned it's a means of conveying some level of not wanting to hear, or incredulity to, what is being said and they have simply shortcut don't want to hear it and can't hear it in some pavlovian fashion.

Could be they heard everything on a not entirely conscious level and their natural response is to squint to convey a feeling of danger, fear, intolerance, to whatever is being said, but consciously they're focusing on doing something else. The situation and script is making them squint more than the lack of hearing. e.g. you're filling your tank and a homeless drug addict person comes up and goes mumbling incoherently into their story about not wanting money and you need to figure out if they want to beg, steal, or kill you.

Could be they don't really use their head that much, they control the environment more than themselves, so their specific muscle control isn't that great. So in turning their head slightly to angle their ears towards what they want to listen to they also trigger the muscles around the eyes and squint a bit, they're just randomly flexing all of their muscles.

Could be the reason they can't hear that well are distracting movement and light surrounding the person and they're attempting to block it out.

Could be they realize they can't hear what is being said very well, don't want to interrupt, and don't really care about the relationship or conversation, so use indirect communication to show that they are listening and paying attention, focused, when they really aren't, in the hopes of offsetting any further questions that would prove they weren't really listening or couldn't hear.



You mean like soft rustling in the grass or slithering in the tree causing people to squint to obtain better information in determining if there is danger?
Yes.

But the face is also the most expressive area of the human body.
And it's used as such for social reasons too.