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Person Perception through Gait Information and Target Choice for Sexual Advances: Comparison of likely Targets in Experiments and Real Life

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior volume 30, pages 63–85 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Point-light and full-view short video clips of female walkers were displayed on a CRT monitor and male students rated the likelihood of selecting a walker for various advances. Relationships between the ratings, the walkers’ self-reported frequencies of being approached, gait cues, and self-rated personality traits were examined. In the point-light condition, raters selected slow walkers with a short stride length and personality traits implying vulnerability as targets for inappropriate touching. In the full-view condition, the raters selected fashionably groomed or physically attractive walkers as sexual advance targets. These criteria corresponded partially with reported occurrences of advances. Awkward movement impression was suggested as a kinematic gait quality influencing sexual advance target choice.

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Acknowledgements

This research project was partly supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Scientific Research (C) “Gender” (No. 1611272), from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hasegawa lab, Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, College of Arts and Science, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

    Kikue Sakaguchi & Toshikazu Hasegawa

  2. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Kikue Sakaguchi

Authors
  1. Kikue Sakaguchi
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  2. Toshikazu Hasegawa
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Correspondence to Kikue Sakaguchi.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

The frequency distribution of women’s having been sexually approached. A: n = 451, B: n = 449 for the span of before entering high school, and n = 450 for the span of after entering high school.

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Sakaguchi, K., Hasegawa, T. Person Perception through Gait Information and Target Choice for Sexual Advances: Comparison of likely Targets in Experiments and Real Life. J Nonverbal Behav 30, 63–85 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-006-0006-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-006-0006-2

Keywords

  • Gait
  • Kinematic information
  • Person perception
  • Point-light display
  • Sexual advance