Skip to main content

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Aalsma, M. C., Zimet, G. D., Fortenberry, J. D., Blythe, M., & Orr, D. P. (2002). Reports of childhood sexual abuse by adolescents and young adults: Stability over time. Journal of Sex Research, 39, 259–263.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albright, L., Kenny, D. A., & Malloy, T. E. (1988). Consensus in personality judgments at zero acquaintance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 387–395.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G., & Vernon, P. (1933). Studies in expressive movement. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1992). Thin slices of expressive behavior as predictors of interpersonal consequences: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 236–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 431–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambady, N., Hallahan, M., & Conner, B. (1999). Accuracy of judgments of sexual orientation from thin slices of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 38–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barclay, C. D., Cutting, J. E., & Kozlowski, L. T. (1978). Temporal and spatial factors in gait perception that influence gender recognition. Perception & Psychophysics, 3,145–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beardsworth, T., & Buckner, T. (1981). The ability to recognize oneself from a video recording of one’s movements without seeing one’s body. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 18, 19–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borkenau, P., & Liebler, A. (1992). Trait inferences: Sources of validity at zero acquaintance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 645–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borkenau, P., & Liebler, A. (1993). Consensus and self-other agreement for trait inferences from minimal information. Journal of Personality, 61, 477–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, S. R., Cheek, J. M., & Buss, A. H. (1980). An analysis of the self-monitoring scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 679–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. A., Cash, T. F., & Noles, S. W. (1986). Perceptions of physical attractiveness among college students: Selected determinants and methodological matters. The Journal of Social Psychology, 126, 305–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, W. M., Palameta, B., & Moore, C. (2003). Are there nonverbal cues to commitment? An exploratory study using the zero-acquaintance video presentation paradigm. Evolutionary Psychology, 1, 42–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne, A., & Finkelhor, D. (1986). Impact of child sexual abuse: A review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 66–77.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (1994). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. Newbury Park, NJ: Sage Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheek, J. M., & Buss, A. R. (1981). Shyness and sociability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 330–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, R. D., & Hatfield, E. (1989). Gender differences in receptivity to sexual offers. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 2, 39–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1989). The NEO-PI/NEO-FFI manual supplement. Odessa, FL: Pychological Assessment Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutting, J. E., & Kozlowski, L. T. (1977). Recognizing friends by their walk: Gait perception without familiarity cues. Bulletin of the Pshychonomic Society, 9, 353–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutting, J. E., Proffitt, D. R., & Kozlowski, L. T. (1978). A biomechanical invariant for gait perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 4, 357–372.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll, D. M., Kelly, J. R., & Henderson, W. L. (1998). Can perceivers identify likelihood to sexually harass? Sex Roles, 38, 557–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, P., & Reichline, P. B. (1939). Judging expressive movement: II. Judgments of dominance-feeling from motion pictures of gait. The Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 345–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finkelhor, D., & Browne, A. (1985). The traumatic impact of child sexual abuse: A conceptualization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 530–541.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funder, D. C., & Colvin, C. R. (1988). Friends and strangers: Acquaintanceship, agreement, and the accuracy of personality judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 149–158.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furby, L., Fischhoff, B., & Morgan, M. (1989). Judged effectiveness of common rape prevention and self-defense strategies. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 4, 44–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., Simpson, J. A., DiGeronimo, K., & Biek, M. (1992). Differential accuracy in person perception across traits: Examination of a functional hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 688–698.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., & Snyder, M. (2000). Self-monitoring: Appraisasl and reappraisal. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 530–555.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gidycz, C. A., Coble, C. N., Latham, L., & Layman, M. J. (1993). Sexual assault experiences in adulthood and prior victimization experiences. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 17, 151–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grayson, B., & Stein, M. I. (1981). Attracting assault: Victims’ nonverbal cues. Journal of Communication, 31, 68–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gunns, R. E., Johnston, L., & Hudson, S. M. (2002). Victim selection and kinematics: A point-light investigation of vulnerability to attack. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 26, 129–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, K. R., Hursch, C. J., & Todd, F. J. (1964). Analyzing the components of clinical inference. Psychological Review, 71, 438–456.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ickes, W., & Barnes, R. D. (1977). The role of sex and self-monitoring in unstructured dyadic interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • John, O. P., & Robins, R. W. (1993). Determinants of interjudge agreement on personality traits: The Big Five domains, observability, evaluativeness, and the unique perspective of the self. Journal of Personality, 61, 521–551.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, D. A., Horner, C., Kashy, D. A., & Chu, L. (1992). Consensus at zero acquaintance: Replication, behavioral cues, and stability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 88–97.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, L. T., & Cutting, J. E. (1977). Recognizing the sex of a walker from a dynamic point-light display. Perception & Psychophysics, 21, 575–580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemke, M. R., Wendorff, T., Mieth, B., Buhl, K., & Linnemann, M. (2000). Spatiotemporal gait patterns during over ground locomotion in major depression compared with healthy controls. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 34, 277–283.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. (1978). Expressive control, expressive consistency, and the correspondence between expressive behavior and personality. Journal of Personality, 46, 438–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippa, R. A., & Dietz, J. K. (2000). The relation of gender, personality, and intelligence to judges’ accuracy in judging strangers’ personality from brief video segments. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 24, 25–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McArthur, L. Z., & Baron, R. M. (1983). Toward an ecological theory of social perception. Psychological Review, 90, 215–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montepare, J. M., & Zebrowitz-McArthur, L. (1988). Impressions of people created by age related qualities of their gaits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 547–556.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montepare, J. M., & Zebrowitz, L. A. (1993). A cross-cultural comparison of impressions created by age-related variations in gait. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 17, 55–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murzynski, J., & Degelman, D. (1996). Body language of women and judgments of vulnerability to sexual assault. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26, 1617–1626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, M. B., Templer, D. I., & Brown, R. (1984). Coping ability of women who become victims of rape. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 73–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oltmanns, T. F., Friedman, J. N. W., Fiedler, E. R., & Turkheimer, E. (2004). Perceptions of people with personality disorders based on thin slices of behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 216–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakaguchi, K., & Hasegawa T. (in press). Personality correlates with the frequency of being targeted for unexpected advances by strangers. Journal of Applied Social Psychology

  • Schmitt, D. P. et al. (2003). Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: Tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 85–104.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shimonaka, Y., Nakazato, K., Gondo, Y., & Takayama, M. (1999). NEO-PI-R, NEO-FFI manual for the Japanese version. Tokyo: Tokyo shinri, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, J. A., & Gangestad, S. W. (1991). Individual differences in sociosexuality: Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 870–883.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, M., Simpson, J. A., & Gangestad, S. (1986). Personality and sexual relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 181–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walster, E., Aronson, V., Abrahams, D., & Rottmann, L. (1966). Importance of physical attractiveness in dating behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Behavior, 4, 8–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D. (1989). Strangers’ ratings of the five robust personality factors: Evidence of a surprising convergence with self-report. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 120–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, J. W., & Smith, P. H. (2001). Developmental antecedents of violence against women: A longitudinal perspective. U. S. Department of Justice. (Document No. #98WTVX0010).

  • Wolff, W. (1935). Involuntary self-expression in gait and other movements: An experimental study. Character and Personality, 3, 327–344.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

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.

Author information

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
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Toshikazu Hasegawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

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.

figure a

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

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

Keywords

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