Stare-in-the-crowd effect

The stare-in-the-crowd effect is the notion that an eyes-forward, direct gaze is more easily detected than an averted gaze. First discovered by psychologist and neurophysiologist Michael von Grünau and his psychology student Christina Marie Anston using human subjects in 1995, the processing advantage associated with this effect is thought to derive from the importance of eye contact as a cue for social interactions.

Source: Wikipedia — Stare-in-the-crowd effect (CC BY-SA 4.0)