It Takes This Long Before Staring Into Your Crush's Eyes Gets Mad Awkward

You know how it goes. You're sitting on the train or waiting in a crazy long line for churros and some cutie across the way catches your eye. You want to make eye contact with him or her so they know you're picking up what they're putting down, but there's a fine line between flirty and creepy.

Lucky for us, a team of brilliant scientists figured out exactly how long you should make eye contact with someone before it gets hella awkward. So how long should you stare at that gorgeous guy or girl? Ten seconds? Twenty? Until they assume you've fallen asleep with your eyes open??

According to IFLScience, it's surprisingly brief, actually. Published in Royal Society Open Science, researchers found that the sweet spot is just 3.3 seconds. They came to this conclusion after having 500 people between the ages of 11 and 79 watch a video of an actress staring straight into the camera for various amounts of time while their heads were strapped upright. Participants then pressed a button when they felt the actress was staring at them for way too long.

Apparently, a little over 3 seconds is all it takes to make someone uncomfortable. So take note next time you're at a cocktail party. Wouldn't want to scare away your crush!

Watch the video above to see what we mean.

Citations: Eye Contact Becomes Awkward After 3.3 Seconds, According To Science (IFLScience)