The influence of heightened body-awareness on walking through apertures

Abstract

The reported study measured the ratio between aperture-width and hip-width that marked the critical transition from frontal walking to body rotation for male and female participants. Half of the participants of each sex wore form-fitting lycra clothes and half loose-fitting jogging suits. Participants wearing the form-fitting clothing reported heightened body awareness relative to those wearing the loose-fitting clothing. For male participants this difference was reflected in a smaller aperture-to-hip ratio in the form-fitting than loose-fitting clothing condition. That is, males walked frontally through smaller apertures when wearing form-fitting than when wearing loose-fitting clothing. For females there was no difference in walking action as a function of clothing style. Results are discussed in terms of the perception of action opportunities in the environment, the influence of body awareness on such perception and sex differences. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.