Perceiving Sex Directly and Indirectly: Meaning in Motion and Morphology

We employed a novel technique to explore how the body's motion and morphology affect judgments of sex and gender. Stimuli depicted animated human walkers that varied in motion (gait patterns varying shoulder swagger and hip sway) and in morphology (waist-to-hip ratio). The potency of morphology...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPsychological science Vol. 16; no. 11; pp. 890 - 897
Main Authors Johnson, Kerri L., Tassinary, Louis G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA Blackwell Publishing 01.11.2005
SAGE Publications
Subjects
Adult
Attitude
Eye movements
Female
Femininity
Gait
Gender
Gender discrimination
Hip
Humans
Identity
Male
Masculinity
Men
Morphology
Motion Perception
Movement
Perception of others
Psychology
Sex Factors
Sexual Behavior
Sexuality
Social Perception
Visual perception
Waist
Walking
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:We employed a novel technique to explore how the body's motion and morphology affect judgments of sex and gender. Stimuli depicted animated human walkers that varied in motion (gait patterns varying shoulder swagger and hip sway) and in morphology (waist-to-hip ratio). The potency of morphology in categorical sex judgments was confirmed. Visual scanning of the walkers was concentrated in the waist and hip region of the body (Study 1a). This targeted scanning was attenuated, however, when the sex of the target had been prespecified (Study 1b). Body motion permitted categorical judgments of sex, but these judgments were mediated by perceived gender (Study 2). These studies provide converging evidence for the primacy of the body's shape in categorical judgments of sex.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:0956-7976
1467-9280
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01633.x