Body Language     Linguaggio del Corpo     Langage du Corps

Journal of nonverbal Behavior
, 26 (3), 129-158, Fall 2002

Victim Selection and Kinematics: A Point-Light Investigation of Vulnerability to Attack

Rebekah E. Gunns
University of Canterbury
Lucy Johnston Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand; Ljohnston@psyc.canterbury.ac.nz
Stephen M. Hudson, University of Canterbury

Three experiments used a point-light methodology to investigate whether movement style specifies vulnerability to physical attack. Both female (Experiment 1) and male (Experiment 2) walkers could be differentiated according to ease-of-attack based solely on the kinematic information provided whilst walking. Specific walking style features predicted ease-of-attack and profiles of prototypically “easy to attack” and “difficult to attack” walkers were identified. Variations in walking style as a function of clothing and footwear style were also shown to predict differences in ease-of-attack ratings (Experiment 3). Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered.
Keywords
kinematics, point-light, vulnerability

Article ID:
454041
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* Reproduced with permission of Copyright Service of Kluwer Academic Publishers.