The Bee Gees may be right; there can be relationships between walking style and personality.
That might mean that security and police officers might be able to spot aggression from people’s walking, University of Portsmouth researchers from the Department of Psychology suggest. They assessed the personalities of 29 participants, before using motion capture technology to record them walking on a treadmill at their natural speed. The study found that the exaggerated movement of both the upper and lower body indicated aggression.
While the researchers did not go into whether you can recognise someone as likely to be agreeable or angry towards you, they did make a broad point; that ‘personality is manifest in the way we walk’.
Lead researcher Liam Satchell said: โWhen walking, the body naturally rotates a little; as an individual steps forward with their left foot, the left side of the pelvis will move forward with the leg, the left shoulder will move back and the right shoulder forward to maintain balance. An aggressive walk is one where this rotation is exaggerated.โ
The researchers asked participants to complete a questionnaire, which measured their levels of aggression. They also used a standard personality test called the โbig fiveโ to assess personality traits including openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. Together they can help map the way people think, feel and behave.
Using motion capture, which records the actions of humans and uses the data to bring to life digital character models in 3D computer animation, the researchers analysed thorax and pelvis movements, as well as speed of gait.
Mr Satchell said: โPeople are generally aware that there is a relationship between swagger and psychology. Our research provides empirical evidence to confirm that personality is indeed manifest in the way we walk. We know of no other examples of research where gait has been shown to correlate with self-reported measures of personality and suggest that more research should be conducted between automatic movement and personality.โ
Mr Satchell said identifying the potential relationship between someoneโs biological motion and their intention to engage in aggression could be used to help prevent crime. He said: โIf CCTV observers could be trained to recognise the aggressive walk demonstrated in this research, their ability to recognise impending crimes could be improved further.โ
For the researchers’ exploratory paper, in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior click here.
