Walk this Way

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How do you think the way someone walks affects your opinion of them?

reading

Read the first part of the article and find out if your assumptions coincide with what most people would assume.

B

Future Magazine May 2016

What Your Walk Really Says About You

If you saw a man walk into a bar with a John Wayne swagger,

you probably wouldn’t be able to help yourself from jumping to conclusions about his personality based on his gait. And there’s a good chance that you’d think he’s a confident, tough kind of guy.

Psychologists have been studying these assumptions for well over three quarters of a century, and their findings suggest that most of us do tend to make very similar interpretations of other people’s personalities based on their walking style.

After watching that wannabe cowboy walk into the bar, the likelihood is that you and I would agree about the kind of personality he has.

But how accurate are these assumptions? And what other kinds of characteristics can we read from someone’s gait?

If you saw a man walk into a bar with a John Wayne swagger, what would you assume about his character?

How accurate do you think the assumptions are?b

Read the next part of the article and check your ideas.B

In the 1980s, psychologists found that there are broadly two kinds of walk. What do you think they are and what do people assume about others based on the walk they have?

US psychologists in the late 1980s found that there are broadly two kinds of walk, which could be characterised by either a more youthful or older style of movement. The former involving a more bouncy rhythm, more swaying of the hips, larger arm swings and more frequent steps, while the latter was stiffer

and slower with more leaning forward. Crucially, the gait did not necessarily correspond to the walker’s actual age – you could be young with an old gait and vice versa. Furthermore, the observers assumed that people who walked with a younger style were happier and more powerful. This remained the case even when

their actual age was made apparent by revealing their faces and bodies.

Which kind of walk do you think you have and do the assumptions as regards happiness and power ring true to you?b

Walk this Way

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reading

Such research shows how readily and consistently people make inferences about others based on seeing the way they walk, but the study didn’t address the question of whether these assumptions are accurate. For that, we must turn to a British and Swiss study published just a few years ago, which compared people’s ratings of their own personalities with the assumptions other people made about them based on point-light displays of their walks.

Their results suggested again that there are two main walking styles, although this

study described them in slightly different terms: the first was said to be an expansive, loose style, which observers saw as a mark of adventurousness, extraversion, trustworthiness and warmth; the other was a slow, relaxed style, which observers interpreted as a sign of emotional stability. But crucially, the observers’ judgements were wrong – these two different walking styles were not actually correlated with these traits, at least not based on the walkers’ ratings of their own personalities.

The message from all this research is that we treat a

person’s gait much like we treat their face, clothing or accent – as a source of information about the kind of person they are. It’s just that, whereas the evidence suggests our assessments are rather good for faces, we tend to make false assumptions based on gait.

The psychologists in the 1980s didn’t examine how accurate the assumptions based on people’s gait were, but a British and Swiss study did. Read the next part of the article and summarise in your own words what they found.

B

Do you think you personally, most accurately judge a person’s character from their gait, face, clothing or accent?b

Read the next part of the article and check your ideas.B

There is a more sinister way, however, in which we do make more accurate judgements about each other based on our walks. What do you think the judgement is about?

At least, that’s the case for most of the judgements we make. But there is a rather more sinister way that we do make more accurate judgements about each other based on our walks – and it has to do with our vulnerability.

Some of the earliest findings showed that men and women with a shorter stride, smaller arm swing and slower walk tend to be seen as more vulnerable (note the similarity to the older walking style found in the personality research).

Research has shown that imprisoned inmates with higher psychopathy scores are particularly accurate at detecting which people have been attacked in the past,

simply from watching video clips of them walking down a hall. It seems that some of the inmates were fully aware of this ability: the higher scorers in psychopathy specifically stated that they paid attention to the people’s gait when making their judgements. This tallies with anecdotal evidence. For example, serial killer Ted Bundy reportedly said that he could “tell a victim from the way that she walked down the street”.

Do you think this means you can adapt your walking style to change the impression you give? Read the final part of the article and compare your ideas to the experts’.

B

Walk this Way reading

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This entire field of research raises the question of whether you can adapt your walking style to change the impression you give. Some research suggests you can learn to walk in a way that sends a message of invulnerability – faster with a longer stride and bolder arm movements – and that

women instinctively adopt elements of this style when in less safe environments. But psychologists say it’s probably not advisable to try too hard to make an impression, otherwise it may come across as a desperate attempt at bravado – or you may look like a swaggering cowboy.

What other physical movements or gestures do you think can help you define someone’s personality and character?b

Complete these extracts from the article with the appropriate words. There are clues in brackets.

V

1 If you saw a man walk into a bar with a John Wayne ____________________ (a proud and confident walk)…2 Psychologists have been studying these ______________________ (something that you consider likely to be true even though you have no proof) for well over three quarters of a century…3 After watching that _____________________ (a person who desires to be, or be like, someone or something else) cowboy walk into the bar…4 US psychologists in the late 1980s found that there are ___________________ (in general) two kinds of walk…5 It’s just that, whereas the _________________________ (information that indicates whether a belief is true) suggests our assessments are rather good for faces…6 But there is a rather more _____________________ (giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen) way that we do make more accurate judgements about each other…7 Research has shown that imprisoned _____________________ (prisoners) with higher psychopathy scores are particularly accurate at detecting which people have been attacked in the past…8 …women instinctively adopt elements of this style when in less safe ________________ (the surroundings or conditions in which a person finds themselves).

Complete these sentences with the correct form of the words above:V1 The __________________ escaped by building a tunnel under the prison wall. 2 There is a constant flow of _____________________ celebrities on the TV nowadays.3 You could see from his ______________________ that he was not a shy person. 4 ___________________ speaking, I think everyone backs the plans put forward today.

Walk this Way reading

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What does the highlighted expression in this extract from the article mean?E

V

jump the gun

5 The countryside is a great _______________________ to bring children up in. 6 His comment that we would regret not supporting him sounded rather ___________ to me. I’m beginning to worry. 7 There is no __________________ that homeopathy works, but many people are convinced it does. 8 Don’t make ______________________. Just because he looks serious, it doesn’t mean he is.

Future Magazine May 2016

...you probably wouldn’t be able to help yourself from jumping to conclusions about his personality based on his gait.

There are other expressions with jump. What do you think these mean?

____ do a lot of extra things so you can have or do something you want____ go from a bad situation to an even worse one____ be very surprised____ move in front of people who have been waiting longer for something than you____ start doing something new and difficult without help or preparation____ become involved in something quickly, often without thinking carefully first____ respond in a sudden and angry way____ do something too soon, especially without thinking carefully about it

1 jump down someone’s throat 2 jump out of one’s skin 3 jump the queue 4 jump through hoops 5 jump in the deep end 6 jump out of the frying pan into the fire 7 jump in with both feet / jump in feet first8 jump the gun

Match them to these definitions:

1 When he came up behind me without warning I was completely shocked. 2 We had to do a million different things to get a building permit. 3 One of the few advantages of travelling with children is that you can go first when boarding the plane.4 He had never run a bar before, but he started one on his own with no help. 5 I thought by changing my job I would have less stress, but the new one is even more stressful.6 When I mentioned the new business to Ben he got involved immediately.

f React to these sentences using the expressions above:

Walk this Wayintermediate+ (B1+)

week of 06.06.16

student pages 4Teacher’s notes 1

reading

Complete these extracts from the article with the appropriate words. There are clues in brackets.

V

1 swagger 2 assumptions 3 wannabe 4 broadly 5 evidence 6 sinister7 inmates 8 environments

Complete these sentences with the correct form of the words above:V1 inmates2 wannabe3 swagger4 broadly5 environment6 sinister7 evidence8 assumptions

What does the highlighted expression in this extract from the article mean?Ejump to conclusions = form an opinion hastily without considering all the facts

VMatch them to these definitions:4 do a lot of extra things so you can have or do something you want6 go from a bad situation to an even worse one2 be very surprised3 move in front of people who have been waiting longer for something than you5 start doing something new and difficult without help or preparation7 become involved in something very quickly, often without thinking carefully about it first1 respond in a sudden and angry way8 do something too soon, especially without thinking carefully about it

Suggested answers:1 So you jumped out of your skin.2 You always have to jump through hoops for things like that.3 Not all airlines let you jump the queue like that.4 So he jumped in the deep end.5 You jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.6 Ben jumped in with both feet.

VReact to these sentences using the expressions above: