Eye-rolling, in Western culture, has been identified as a passive-aggressive response to an undesirable situation or person. The gesture is used to disagree or dismiss the targeted person without physical contact.[1]

The facial expression is used more often by adolescent girls than boys, and is one of the most common forms of non-verbal communication among humans.[5][4] When studying exclusively adolescent females, the eye-roll gesture was observed to be the most prominent response to displeasure. Thirteen-year-old girls showed eye-rolling to be the main sign of aggression toward their peers in social situations, and has been proven to be one of the top causes of social anxiety or depression in adolescents.[6] Eye rolling is often accompanied by crossing of the arms and throwing the head or body back in an increased effort to symbolize avoidance or displeasure. Avoidance may be characterized by conveying hostility or distancing, often with the purpose of ending a relationship of any kind.[7]