































Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 101 

Investigating Compulsive Staring behavior in Men: A gender sensitive 
examination of Socio-cultural and Psychological Influences 

Hajra Shoukat and Dr. Sahira Zaman 

Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan 

Abstract 

Examining psychological, sociological, and cultural aspects, this study investigates the 
complicated phenomenon of compulsive staring. A person's inner self (Psyche), the 
people in immediate environment (Society), and certain customs or traditions (Culture) 
may have a significant influence in enhancing or diminishing this behavior. Students 
pursuing bachelors and master's degrees from highly populated universities in Rawalpindi 
and Islamabad participated in this qualitative study. Focus groups and interviews were 
done with the use of snowball sampling. To create themes from the data analysis, open 
and axial codes were extracted, and themes were generated. The results show that 
connections, social obstacles, and the social environment all have a big impact on 
compulsive staring. Cultural traditions can cause this behavior, such as when 
objectification becomes normative, although they have less effect than social and 
psychological elements. The psychological components of compulsive staring, such as 
suppressed feelings, urges, and coping mechanisms, are also major contributors. It is 
important to uncover further details or root causes of this behavior to have a deep 
understanding,  which may help us to understand how to deal with the person exhibiting 
this behavior and if someone has tendencies to develop it, how to counsel him to get rid 
of it. All of these efforts are necessary to make this world a beautiful place to live in.  

Keywords: Social environment, Snowball sampling, Focus Group discussions, Cultural 
traditions, Psychological components 

Introduction 

According to Kulkarni (2020), staring is regarded as a mental ritual linked to obsessions 
and compulsions. In the "Indian journal of Private Psychiatry" Kulkarni describes 
compulsive staring as a form of mental checking accompanied by incessant doubt. 

It is also note that staring is a way to demonstrate aggression or dominance, which can 
cause unease and discomfort. Additionally, pleasant attitudes and verbal interactions, 
particularly smiling, can mitigate this tendency (Ellsworth et al., 1972).  

Hegemonic views on gender performances led to the normalization and acceptance of 
the objectification of the objectification of women in media portrayals (Yiran, 2021). These 
views reinforce cultural norms of femininity “outlining specific beauty standards women 
are expected to follow” The objectification of women in media portrayals is a result of one 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 102 

of the prevailing attitudes about gender performances in popular media, which maintains 
that women must adhere to a particular beauty standard to gain acclaim. Because of this, 
women's bodies and appearances are subjected to control under the dominant male 
gaze. 

Samuel et al. (1983) described a case study involving a 52-year-old woman with frequent, 
compulsive staring rituals utilized self-monitoring and thought-stopping tactics taught 
through made-up instructions. As she refrained from her compulsive rituals during the 
treatment session, thought-stopping was creatively portrayed. Results showed that these 
techniques effectively addressed several target behaviors.. The study shows that patients 
with OCD-related cognitive rituals that are hard to replicate in a therapy session, 
imaginatively depicted thought-stopping can be a valuable therapeutic tool. 

Gaze behavior—a social attention-centering behavior—influences romantic and sexual 
interactions. The term "male gaze" refers to men examining women with their eyes often 
focusing on their genitalia. Benjamin et al. (2016) studied the factors influencing men's 
gaze behavior, acceptance of the behavior, and satisfaction derived from it. The study 
focused on theories on gender perspectives (ambivalent sexism theory) and sexual 
preferences (sociosexuality) to justify men's gaze behavior. The study showed that male 
gaze was affected by five factors: frequency of glance, the unacceptability of stare, male 
pleasure of staring, perceived female contentment of being glanced at, and awareness of 
gaze behavior. The results demonstrated that men's views toward immediate sex, need 
for short-term sex, and hostile sexist ideas were the best predictors of men's frequency 
of staring at women as well as their assessments of the behavior's acceptance and 
enjoyment. The objectification hypothesis, which holds that women are commonly seen 
as the victims of male sexual attraction, sociosexuality, and multiple sexism hypotheses, 
explained the findings. The primary conclusion of the study was that men's attitudes 
toward casual sex and their sexist beliefs significantly influenced how they behaved and 
thought about themselves when looked at whom? 

Social, cultural and psychological factors of compulsive staring 

According to Thomson (2009), compulsive staring has been connected to social 
behaviors like information gathering and rudeness. Cultural factors, such as eye contact 
and personal space also influence this behavior (Colombatto et al., 2020). Furthermore, 
compulsive staring may disrupt typical cognitive processes, leading to perplexity, 
ambiguity, and derealization—a state in which a person perceives their surroundings are 
not real (Hout et al., 2008). 

Background 

Compulsive staring defined as an ongoing obsession with a person or objects and 
combines psychological, cultural and social elements. In order to recognize its influence 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 103 

on social interactions and mental health, this research attempts to explore its intricate 
psychological foundations, cultural variations, and social implications. Compulsive staring 
has not received enough scholarly attention despite being present in a variety of contexts, 
especially when it comes to the obsessive aspect that that distinguishes it from other 
forms of staring. Studies that have already been done examine many facets of staring, 
but they do not concentrate on the compulsive staring. 

Operational definition 

Staring 

Typically, "staring" is the act of looking intensively at someone or something. It might be 
a normal and infrequent activity, when someone is engrossed in something fascinating 
(Garland, 2009). 

Compulsive staring 

A prolonged, intense fixation, intense fixation on a particular subject or person that 
frequently lasts longer than socially acceptable periods of time is known as compulsive 
gazing, and it can cause discomfort or anxiety for the person being observed. Compulsive 
gazing is a phenomenon that has not received much scientific attention, but it has been 
related to problems related to psychological health, personal boundaries, and social 
norms. 

Theoretical perspective 

Psychodynamic theory 

The idea of compulsive staring can be connected to psychodynamic theory, especially 
when we consider how psychodynamic concepts relate to the root causes and processes 
of this behavior. Psychodynamic theory views obsessive staring as an expression of 
unconscious needs, conflicts, or desires that remain unmet; the act of maintaining a 
prolonged look acts as a conduit or metaphor for these unspoken needs and emotions. 
This conduct could be an outward manifestation of suppressed emotions that are 
transferred onto the target of the stare, such as desire, envy, or fascination. According to 
psychodynamic theory, we can comprehend the psychological foundations and 
underlying causes of compulsive staring better by examining the unconscious dynamics 
and motivations (Zeanah, et al. 1989). 

Objectives of the study  

• To understand the role of social, psychological, and cultural factors in shaping the 
behaviors associated with compulsive staring  

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 104 

• To establish connections between psychological, cultural, and social providing a 
comprehensive and well-rounded explanation of compulsive staring. 

Significance 

Staring is one of the most fundamental and widespread human actions. We glance at 
objects that catch our attention, at each other, and around us. But when staring turns from 
an infrequent, fleeting glance into continuous, compulsive activity, it becomes more 
complex and nuanced, necessitating deeper exploration. A condition at the intersection 
of psychology, culture, and society known as compulsive gazing is typified by a strong 
and enduring fixation on a single object or person. 

From a societal perspective, compulsive gazing can have serious consequences. People 
subjected to prolonged stares may experience unease, harassment, or even 
discrimination, which can have an impact on their mental health. As a society, we also 
need to think about things like consent, privacy, and the ethics of staring in public. 
Examining the wider societal effects of excessive gazing is essential to foster more polite 
and inclusive relationships in the society. 

Research Question 

How do social, psychological, or cultural elements influence an individual's complicated 
behavior of compulsive staring? 

Methodology 

Research Approach 

The study areas for this semi-structured questionnaire survey were the most populated 
universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. In order to gather comprehensive data and 
public opinion regarding compulsive staring behavior, a qualitative research approach 
was employed  

Research Design 

Three complex compulsive staring behavior categories were identified for this qualitative 
analysis in order to better understand the causes of compulsive staring. Open-ended, 
semi-structured interviews were conducted with students from various universities in the 
Twin Cities (Islamabad & Rawalpindi). To gather information, in-depth one-on-one 
interviews were done with every student. The researcher developed an interview guide 
based on the literature study before conducting these interviews. This guide was 
developed with explicit regard for the experiences and factors related to compulsive 
staring as reported by the pilot interview participants. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 105 

Sampling method 

Snowball sampling was employed to recruit participants. This method was chosen 
because it is effective for accessing niche or hard-to-reach populations-to-reach 
communities. Initially, just a few individuals who met the study's criteria were found.  After 
the interviews, they were asked to recommend other individuals who met the same 
criteria. This method was repeated until the required sample size (12 respondents) was 
reached ensuring a representative and diverse sample. 

Instruments or Tool 

To gather information, ten open-ended questions from a semi-structured interview guide 
were asked. This guide was designed to extract comprehensive responses pertaining to 
compulsive staring behavior. 

Data analysis technique 

Data was organized and analyzed after completing semi-structured interviews and focus 
group discussions. Initially, a variety of open codes were chosen from the entire set of 
data, and then those codes were dispersed across three distinct dimensions: social, 
cultural, and psychological. Repetitive codes were eliminated and similar codes were 
grouped together. Following that, an axial code was created from four to five open codes, 
which helped create a theme. Afterwards, distinct verbatim quotes were identified to 
support the themes. For the cultural and psychological components, the same method 
was used.  

Ethical considerations 

By following the ethical guidelines established by the FJWU Ethics Committee, this 
qualitative study guaranteed participant debriefing, informed consent, and confidentiality. 
Transparency and reflexivity among researchers on potential conflicts of interest were 
maintained during the course of the study. Ethical issues were included into the results 
report, and the limitations and ethical challenges encountered were thoroughly examined. 
The sincere appreciation of the contributions made by the participants underlined the 
researchers’ commitment to upholding ethical standards in all research projects. 

Analysis 

Table 1 
Social factors that affect compulsive staring behavior 

Open codes Axial codes Themes Verbatim 

Common issue 
Social influence 

Socio-economic and 
environmental influence 

“Look how 
beautiful  she  is” 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 106 

Surrounding environment 
Public areas 
Friends circle 

 

Social 
dimensions and 
media influence 

 
 
 
“We are just 
looking, there is 
nothing wrong in 
it” 
 
 
“Girls wear bold 
to being stared” 

Way of communication 
Unemployment 
Type of job 
Bad social networking 

Educated parents 
Joint family 
Social Media Media and  

relationship impact Late marriages 
Marital Conflicts  
Careless 
Unhealthy relationships 

Attraction for beauty 
Bold dress Visually appeal 

  
Table 2 
Cultural factors that affect compulsive staring behavior 
Open codes Axial codes Themes Verbatim 
Norms 
Enjoying Dominance 
Having Power 

 
Cultural impacts 

 
 
 
 
Traditions and 
values 

 
 
“Man can stare. There is 
nothing wrong in it” 
 
 
“Girls should cover thems
elves to not being stared” 
 

Moral values 
Dress code 
Date promoting culture 
Western style dressing 

 
 
Cultural values 

Poetry 
Diplomatic words 
Bold language 

 
Language 

 
Table 3 
Psychological factors that affect compulsive staring behavior 
Open codes Axial codes Themes Verbatim 
Realities of life 
Insecurities 
Unfulfilled desires 
Emotional distress 
Not social  
Inferiority complex 

Psychological 
experience 

 
 
 
 
 

“People can’t 
control 
themselves to 
stare others” 
 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 107 

Objectifying female 
Misinterpreting words 
Wish to harass 
Good way 
for sexual health 

Personal Growth 
and sexual behavior 

Regulating emotions 
 
 
 
 

Coping strategies 

“It is normal to 
stare beautiful 
women” 

“People think 
they have the 
right to stare” 

Habitual or fun 
Free time activity 
Short-term pleasure 
Inner satisfaction 

Activities for pleasure 

 

Discussion and conclusion 

Whenever we aim to eradicate problems or issues negatively affecting our society it is 
essential to identify their root causes or contributing factors. Different social factors such 
as friends’ circle, economic conditions, surrounding environment plays a very important 
role. Most of our respondents mentioned the importance of controlling the environment in 
which individuals live to prevent behaviors like compulsive staring from being triggered. 
Beauty or physical attraction is also considered as an excuse by those who engage in 
staring, but this excuse is ignored by most of the respondents as they think that women 
wearing abaya or hijab are also stared at or harassed, this means that physical 
appearance alone cannot explain the compulsive staring behavior.” 

Culture also plays an important role as in many cultures women are and staring at them 
is not considered inappropriate In most of the patriarchal systems, men are permitted to 
do whatever they want, which exacerbates the problem of unequal gender rights. One of 
the respondents mentioned that in some cultures it is normalized to stare:  

 “He is a man; he can do whatever he wants” 

Psychological factors like unconscious desires, suppressed emotions and the pursuit of 
short-term pleasure activities are the factors that lead to this behavior. The respondents 
also said that men who want to harass women do stare first to feel women uncomfortable 
and check what she will do in response. 

In conclusion, it is important to do further research further research to uncover more 
relevant causes of compulsive staring. Understanding these factors can help develop 
effective strategies to address and control social issues that result from such behaviors. 

References 

Benjamin, Lee, Compton. (2016). Characteristics of the Male Gazer: Application of 
Ambivalent Sexism Theory and Sociosexuality on Male Gazing Behavior.    

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 108 

Colombatto, C., Buren, B., & Scholl, B. (2020). Gazing Without Eyes: A “Stare-in-the-
Crowd” Effect Induced by Simple Geometric Shapes. Perception, 49, 782 - 792. 
https://doi.org/10.1177/0301006620934320.  

Ellsworth, P. C., Carlsmith, J. M., & Henson, A. (1972). The stare as a stimulus to flight 
in human subjects: A series of field experiments. Journal of Personality and Social 
Psychology, 21(3), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0032323  

Garland-Thomson, R. (2009). Staring: How we look. Oxford University Press. 

Hout, M., Engelhard, I., Boer, C., Bois, A., & Dek, E. (2008). Perseverative and 
compulsive-like staring causes uncertainty about perception. Behaviour Research and 
Therapy, 46(12), 1300-1304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.09.002  

Kulkarni, H. (2020). Episodic, Event-triggered Staring Compulsion: An Unusual Form of 
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder. Indian Journal of Private Psychiatry, 14(1), 9-10. 

Samuel, M., Turner., Arnold, Holzman., Rolf, G., Jacob. (1983). Treatment of compulsive 
looking by imaginal thought-stopping.. Behavior Modification,  doi: 
10.1177/01454455830074007 

Thomson, R. (2009). Staring: How We Look. . https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.47-0931.  

Yiran, Dang. (2021). The Hegemonic Male Gaze in the Media Culture.   doi: 
10.2991/assehr.k.220704.188 

Zeanah, C. H., Anders, T. F., Seifer, R., & Stern, D. N. (1989). Implications of research 
on infant development for psychodynamic theory and practice. Journal of the American 
Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28(5), 657-668. 

Author Notes 

Hajra Shoukat holds MPhil degree in Gender Studies from Fatima Jinnah Women 
University, Rawalpindi (2006), as well as M. Sc Psychology from National University of 
Modern Languages (2020) and MSc Zoology from Virtual University of Pakistan (2022). 
She has published an article before in a renowned journal of Pakistan. She actively 
participates in international conferences as well. She is working as a freelancer with 
several international clients as she believes it is important to have degree with skills to be 
successful in modern world. 

Dr. Sahira Zaman holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the National Institute of Psychology, 
Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad (2015). She is an Assistant professor at the 
Department of Gender Studies and Additional Director of the Quality Enhancement Cell 
(QEC) at Fatima Jinnah Women’s University Rawalpindi. She has been a full-time faculty 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
https://doi.org/10.1177/0301006620934320
https://doi.org/10.1037/h0032323
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.09.002
https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.47-0931


Global Partners in Education Journal – Special Edition  January 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1 
http://www.gpejournal.org   ISSN 2163-758X 
 
 

 109 

member in the Department of Gender Studies at Fatima Jinnah Women's University 
Rawalpindi, Pakistan, for 18 years. She has also served at the University of The Punjab 
Lahore, Pakistan, for over two years. She also has served as Head of the Department for 
Gender Studies at Fatima Jinnah Women's University Rawalpindi.  She is a lifetime 
Pakistan Psychological Association (PPA) (PPA/LM/22/924) member. She also had 
membership in the American Psychological Association (APA), Division 35: Society for 
Psychology of Women. Member No: C2203967395, and a member of the Council of 
Social Sciences Pakistan since 2016. She has presented her 25 research papers at 
several National and International conferences and has published 21 empirical research 
works in many reputed Academic journals. Dr. Zaman has been actively involved in 
academic services and has also served as session chair and judge in scientific sessions 
at many national and international conferences and other scholarly activities. She is part 
of many statutory bodies in different universities, e.g., the Board of Studies, the Board of 
Faculty, etc. She has also served as an external evaluator or head examiner for many 
Pakistani universities for MPhil and Ph.D. theses.  Her brief research interest revolves 
around Mental Health, Gender issues, Social Cognition, Work-family balance, Education, 
and Emotion Regulation. She has also developed and validated many indigenous scales 
for research in many local studies, showing her endeavors in research and 
psychometrics. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/

