Many traits are revealed by watching the walking style of a person. Happiness is revealed with an energetic fast walk. The quality of confidence is depicted in wide steps which tend to bypass the friends with higher steps. Persistence of a person is revealed by a walk with heavy steps, putting pressure on everything. Depressed and sad persons walk slowly dragging their feet behind. A cat walk is a showy walk normally seen in fashion shows. Walking with head down will indicate the person is not in a good mood, and one walking with head up gives the indication that the person is in a good mood.
How does the walk style affect mood?
A recent report published in the Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry has revealed the studies that the mood has a great affect on the walk of a person. The researchers have revealed the trait of a person in the walk style, but proceed to say that the style of walking can also change the mood of a person. If a person tries to adopt a happy mood of walking style, he will soon come onto the mood.
Studies performed
Experiments were done by making people walk with in a depressed style with less arm movement and shoulders drooping forward experienced worse moods as reported in the study. It is nothing new to see the walking style according to the mood one is in, but it is surprising to see the change do mood by changing the walking style.
Individuals were made to walk on the treadmill after showing them placards on which words like pretty, afraid and anxious were written. The gait and posture of the persons was measure without their knowledge. They were guided to walk the way the team wanted. Then they were asked to write down the words they had seen. It was noted that those who were walking in the depressed. This was a sure indication that who were walking the depressed style had really developed a depressed mood.
It was also found how the mood affects the memory. Depressed people remember depressed events related to them and remembering those events make them still more depressed. This method can be helpful treatment to work with depressive patients
The study also contributes to the questions which aim to unlock the mystery of how the brains convert sensory stimuli into information and to recreate human-style learning in computers. The report adds that social animals like human beings spent time in watching other people from different sources like facial expression, body language and posture. People can help researchers to develop a better artificial intelligence by understanding the biology of the brain and by taking information from their own movements
