Telltale Gait: The Role of Nonverbal Cues in Perceptions of Personality and Vulnerability

Abstract

Non-verbal behaviour often provides one of the first opportunities to make socially relevant judgments. For example, gait has been shown to inadvertently signal information about personality and vulnerability. Although non-verbal cues such as gait appear to signal socially relevant information, researchers have identified distinct differences in the ability of observers to accurately perceive these cues. Based on this research, Study 1 examined the personalities and victimization histories of walkers in relation to their gait, and Study 2 explored individual differences in observer's perceptions of the walkers' personality and vulnerability. While victimization history was associated with the display of vulnerable gait cues in Study 1, this association was dependent on victimization type and the cognitive state of the walker. That is, when the walkers felt comfortable, those who had exclusively experienced sexual victimization displayed significantly more vulnerable gait cues than non-victims, while walkers who had exclusively experienced violent victimization did not. Conversely, when the walkers felt uncomfortable, no associations were identified between gait and victimization history. Further, no associations were identified between gait and personality. In Study 2, psychopathy was identified as the most salient predictor of accuracy in perceiving vulnerability to victimization.This association was also dependent on victimization type, where observers higher on psychopathy were significantly more accurate in perceiving vulnerability to violent, but not sexual victimization. While observers were not able to accurately perceive the walkers' personalities, there was a general tendency to view sexual victims as passive, while violent and non-victims were viewed as charismatic. Taken together, the results of the current study raise questions about the role gait plays in perceptions of vulnerability and personality among psychopathic observers. PERCEPTIONS OF PERSONALITY AND VULNERABILITYiii Acknowledgements I would first like to acknowledge Dr. Adelle Forth. Without her support, knowledge, and inspiring passion for research, I would not be the graduate student I am today. Adelle has made my time at Carleton unforgettable, and I will never be able to thank her enough for everything she has done for me as a professor, supervisor, mentor, colleague, and friend.

Bashful Behaviours: The Association Between Perceived Vulnerability and the Dark Tetrad Personality Traits

“…Their results demonstrated that when the traits of the Dark Triad were controlled for, sadistic traits significantly predicted both a preference for killing bugs and hurting others, further corroborating the appropriateness of the Dark Tetrad . Given that the Dark Tetrad traits seemingly all relate strongly to aggressive and/or malignant behaviours, it is not surprising that the traits positively correlate with one another (Porter et al, 2014;Ritchie, 2016;Ritchie et al, 2019). Porter et al (2014) for example, found that psychopathy was most strongly related to Machiavellianism (r = .69, p < .001), followed by psychopathy and narcissism (r = .39, p < .001) and finally, Machiavellianism and narcissism (r = .…”

“…Research within this area has been somewhat mixed however; while some studies have not been able to replicate the association between submissiveness and past victimization (e.g., Blaskovits & Bennell, 2019), other researchers have been able to demonstrate these relations (e.g., Beauregard et al, 2007;Ritchie, 2016;Stevens, 1994).…”

“…Much of the research within this area has looked at gait as a nonverbal behavioural cue indicative of vulnerability, stemming from Grayson and Stein's (1981) work where vulnerability to future victimization was associated with multiple gait cues (e.g., long or short strides, moving unilaterally, gazing downwards). Specifically, this line of research has demonstrated that previously victimized individuals exhibit more vulnerable gait cues (e.g., Blaskovits & Bennell, 2019;Ritchie, 2016) and are more likely to be perceived as introverted (Wolff, 1943).…”

“…Although a relatively new line of inquiry, researchers have sought to examine if this success is due to dark personalities being able to accurately identify previous victimization and vulnerability in others. Findings within this line of research have been mixed, with some indicating that the Dark Triad constructs are not significantly correlated with accuracy in identifying victimization and vulnerability in others, but rather view everyone as weak and vulnerable (Black et al, 2014), while others have reported that the Dark Tetrad, psychopathy in particular, is associated with accuracy in identifying previous victimization (e.g., Book et al, 2013;Ritchie, 2016;Ritchie et al, 2019;Wheeler et al, 2009).…”

“…The majority of the literature surrounding personality differences between victims and nonvictims has focused on assertiveness and submissiveness. Specifically, many researchers have found that previously victimized individuals tend to be more submissive and less assertive than nonvictims (e.g., Beauregard et al, 2007;Corbin et al, 2001;Greene & Navarro, 1998;Ritchie, 2016;Selkin, 1982). In particular, research has demonstrated a link between low assertiveness and victimization, principally in the relation to sexual victimization (e.g., Corbin et al, 2011;Greene & Navarro, 1998;Livingston et al, 2007;VanZile-Tamsen et al, 2005).…”