Walking with Purpose and Confidence: What Does It Mean? Or does it mean anything?
We’ve all heard that we should walk with purpose and confidence, but just what does that mean, or is this really how you should walk? I can’t recall the number of times I’ve heard this saying while attending “Self Defence” seminars. Picture yourself strutting down the street with your head held high, chest out, arms swinging, head pivoting and your making eye contact with everyone and anything that moves. Is this the image we want to project? After all, walking this way is projecting something, and we need to consider whether this projection might create unwanted interest. Inevitably this strutting will generate interest… and probably from someone you don’t want to meet.
Understanding Predatory Behavior
Most predatory crimes are committed by individuals who know their victims – family members, friends, or acquaintances. Statistics suggest that up to 90% of antisocial crimes are perpetrated by someone the victim knows. However, we must also be aware of the threats posed by strangers. The question I ask is this, and we really need to know the answer. Do these individuals know you? Yes, they do, well to an extent.
Targeting and victim selection is a procedure completed by every Predator, regardless if they know you on an intimate basis, a friend basis or as an acquaintance, or even if they have never seen you before. It’s a natural selection practice and completed by both Process and Resource Predators. Within the family dynamics of violence, manipulation, control and intimidation is often used during the process of victimization, Common tactics within this dynamic include: physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, social, verbal and financial abuse; but an abuser may also use the partner’s religion, race, ethnicity, age or other characteristics specific to her to intimidate and control them. Most abusers within this dynamic use multiple tactics over time and some of the most serious abuse having the longest-lasting effects on the survivor — is not always only physical but psychological. But what’s the selection process used when a total stranger decides to make you a victim and how can we reduce this threat?
Even if a predator doesn’t know you personally, they might have spent only a few seconds or minutes observing you. This brief observation and the time invested can be enough for them to assess certain vulnerability cues about you. Body language accounts for over 55% of the communications we as human interpret from each other with only 7% being verbal and 38% being vocal and tone.
The Role of Gait and Stride
Studies have shown that the way we walk – our gait – can influence how potential attackers perceive us. Mary B. Richie’s article “Evil Intentions” (2019) explored whether individuals could assess a victim’s vulnerability based on nonverbal gait cues. In the study, incarcerated offenders who had assaulted people were asked to watch 41 videos clips of individuals walking and judge their vulnerability based on those video clips.
The findings were insightful: Gait, the stride, this included those with long strides, versus short or medium length strides. Weight shifting up and down, opposed to lateral weight shifting, lifted feet, versus swinging or non-synchronous gait. The way we walk, according to these findings, become a vulnerability indictor to if we could be selected as an easy or vulnerable victim.
- Stride Length: Those with shorter strides were judged to be more vulnerable.
- Weight Shifting: People who shifted their weight laterally rather than forward appeared more vulnerable.
- Gait Synchrony: A lack of synchrony in one’s walk, such as swinging feet to the side or taking small, uneven steps, was a key vulnerability indicator.
Predatorial Personalities Studied
Offenders with psychopathic traits, often referred to as social predators, were particularly adept at identifying these cues. Psychopathic individuals constitute about 1% of the general population but make up 15-20% of the male prison population and are responsible for 50% of violent crime.
Other offenders with Machiavellian, (Someone who’s personality may be ruthless, deceive or manipulate others in order to meet their own goals or needs) and those with Sadistic traits, where still able to select victims based on gait, however they did not have the same high selection ability as those psychopathic traits. Offenders with Narcissistic traits also participated in the study, showing varying levels of ability to assess vulnerability based on gait. Offenders on the narcissistic spectrum where unrelated to accuracy, the belief is that due to extreme grandiosity and self-centeredness, their self-interest impaired their capacity to perceive a victim’s vulnerability.
Body Language and Safety
Body language plays a significant role in how we are perceived. Predators often target individuals who exhibit external signs of vulnerability. So, how should we walk to reduce the likelihood of being targeted?
- Keep Your Head Up: Holding your head up shows awareness of your surroundings. Walking with your head in a down position can allude to being stressed or uncomfortable in your surroundings, it can also indicate a feeling of being intimidated or shy.
- Maintain a Strong, Balanced Gait: Walk with balance. Avoid taking small, hesitant steps or swinging your feet to the side.
- Let Your Arms Swing Naturally: Avoid keeping your arms stiff at your side and try to avoid keeping your hands inside your pockets.
- Adjusting how we walk, can significantly reduce the likelihood of being seen as an easy target.
Conclusion
The next time you hear someone say “Walk with a purpose” or “Walk with confidence” – now you’ll understand that purpose and self confidence really has nothing to do with it. After all, if I’m walking to bathroom, I guess I have a purpose… And that’s where we need to put the saying “Walking with confidence or with a purpose will reduce your risk of being a victim”, right in the toilet!
It all comes down to gait – stop walking with small shuffling steps, have a natural comfortable stride in your walk. Be balanced and keep your feet under you and moving forward, not swinging out to the side. Try to keep hands out of your pockets and most defiantly stop looking at the ground, or your phone when you’re walking down the street.
Facial Expression
Facial expression and passive eye contact comes into play while remaining safe on the street as well, however that discussion is for another time. For now, lets work on that walk and increase your safety on the street.
By Rob Andress
Street Safe Self Defence Training Company is a reality based violence prevention and self defence tactics training company. We work with individuals, high schools across Ontario, Canada. As well as with Corporate Clientele, REALTORS, Real Estate Boards and Associations, as well as Indigenous Communities across Canada.