Why do people stare at me?

Do you frequently glance around the room, only to be met by people staring right at you?

For no reason at all.

For a brief moment, you wonder if you have make-up smeared down your face, or if there is something stuck in between your teeth.

But then it happens again and again. Far too often to be a coincidence.

Everywhere you look, there seem to be people staring directly back at you.

It’s uncomfortable, to say the least.

But the bigger question is: why are they doing it? Why are people staring at you in the first place?

Before you go frantically trying to pick out that (non-existent) piece of food from your teeth, check out these ACTUAL reasons people stare at you.

1) You’re beautiful

If you haven’t considered this one before, it should be at the top of your list. It’s probably the best reason to be stared at if you ask me!

Consider whether or not you have any striking features.

You might have grown used to them (looking in a mirror each and every day), but for passers-by, it’s entirely new to them. They can’t help but look. You’re simply beautiful.

My one-year-old son has huge eyes. Not just big, but huge and they pop out of his head. They’re also gorgeous.

When we go out and about, people can’t help but comment on them. We’re used to them in our family, and it’s not until we come into contact with others, that we remember his eyes are usual. They’re different. They’re beautiful.

The difference is, people are less likely to approach an adult to comment on their beauty. With kids, it’s a completely different story.

So, while people aren’t telling you that your hair, eyes, eyelashes, face, etc, is beautiful, they are doing it by staring.

Whether they caught a glimpse of you as you walked into the room, or locked onto your features and couldn’t turn away. Their eyes want to keep on looking.

2) They’re trying to read you

Are you the quiet type? Happy to slink to the back of the crowd and go unnoticed if possible?

This could, in fact, actually be drawing more attention to you.

A new study by the University of London’s Hannah Scott and colleagues (2018) is based on the idea that people stare, because “faces, and in particular, the eyes, provide lots of useful non-verbal information about a person’s mental state.”

If you’re not the type to speak up in a crowd, then your friends and family might frequently check-in by staring at you to make sure you’re OK.

It’s their way of talking to you, without trying to get you to open up with them.

A group of strangers might do the same. It’s their way of reading the room and trying to gauge what everyone is thinking.

We often call it “people watching”.

If you often find people are staring at you (not just friends and family), then it may suggest you have one of those faces people can’t work out.

They are staring to try and read as much as possible into it.

3) You’re confident

On the flip side, people might be staring at you because you exude confidence.

You can walk into a room, and without saying a word, all eyes turn.

They are feeding off your self-confidence, which is shown in the way you walk into a room and the way you hold yourself.

Many people don’t even realize they are doing it.

But it attracts the attention of those around you and they can’t help but stare.

They’re likely sizing you up.

They want to know what you have that they don’t.

They want to know how they can exude the same level of confidence themselves.

4) Your hair is pink

OK, so maybe this one is a stretch, but consider whether there is anything unusual about you.

Think about:

• The color of your hair?
• Your body piercings?
• Tattoos?
• Make-up?
• Clothes?

While all this is familiar and normal for you – and perhaps your friends and family too – it won’t be to strangers.

You may have simply forgotten that rainbow-colored hair isn’t the norm. Or those tattoos you have had for years are actually quite out there and different from anything else. People can’t help but stare when they spot something different.

A glance at yourself in the mirror. Do you see anything that others might find unusual (even if you don’t)?

5) You dress well

The way we look and present ourselves each and every day can actually be a head-turner.

If you’ve invested a fair amount of time into your wardrobe, hair, make-up, and styling, then there’s a good chance that people are staring at you because they’ve noticed it.

Put simply, you look fabulous and you’re turning heads.

Once again, because you dress this way each and every day and aren’t doing anything differently, it may not cross your mind that you do dress and present yourself better than most other people out there.

What’s the norm for you, isn’t the norm for everyone else.

Embrace it and love it. You clearly look amazing and people can’t help but admire you on a daily basis.

6) You’re recognizable

Do people often tell you that you remind them of someone, but they don’t know who?

You might simply have one of those faces.

Whether you look like a well-known celebrity, so much so that people have to do a double-take.

Or simply have one of those faces that people seem to think reminds them of someone else.

If people notice something in you, then they’re going to stare until they work it out.

They are essentially trying to place you, and often don’t even realize they are doing it.