Abstract
The relative importance of the body's motion (i.e., gait) and morphology (i.e., waist-to-hip ratio) for interpersonal judgments was explored using dynamic humanesque animations. Categorical judgments of sex were more heavily influenced by the body's morphology than by its motion (Study 1). When the sex of a target was unspecified, visual attention was concentrated in the waist and hip region of the display; But visual attention dropped to chance-levels when the sex of the target had been pre-specified (Study 2). Judgments of masculinity and femininity, in contrast, were more heavily influenced by motion than by morphology (Study 1). Like in studies using point-light displays, motion alone was sufficient to support categorical judgments of sex, but these judgments were mediated by perceived masculinity/femininity (Study 3). Together, these results highlight a) the direct influence of morphology in judgments of sex, b) the direct influence of motion in judgments of masculinity/femininity, and c) the indirect influence of motion in judgments of sex — mediated by perceived masculinity/femininity.