The world isn’t always a safe place. It’s also home to psychopaths who can do just about anything to get their way. Although severe psychopathy affects just 1% of the population, research suggests that nearly 30% of people have some psychopathic traits, meaning the other 70% could be their potential victims.

That’s why a woman on TikTok shared her forensic psychology expertise to warn folks about how they could avoid becoming the next victim of a predator. Turns out it has something to do with the way we walk.

More info: TikTok

Apparently, the way you walk can tell a predator a lot about you and signal whether you’re a good target for them to attack

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

“What if I told you that the way you walk could determine whether or not you’re more likely to become a target of a predator?”

“Hi, my name is Alex and I’m a current college student studying psychology and forensic psychology. And one of my passions is using my education to share information and tips to help you stay safe. Just a little disclaimer, before we get started, I will be addressing specifically women in this video. However, any information in this video can be beneficial to anyone. So let’s dive in.”

“A research study was done where incarcerated males convicted of violent crimes such as kidnappings, assaults, ra**s, mu**ers, etc. were shown a series of videos of different women, and then asked to indicate which of the women in the videos they would be most likely to choose as a target. Now, the results of this study may surprise you, because they do contradict a lot of the typical information that you hear regarding victim typologies and how a predator chooses their victims.” 

“Out of all of the women shown in the videos, only a select few were unanimously chosen by the incarcerated males. You may be thinking that these women were chosen because of something to do with their physical appearance, such as their body size, if they were small and petite, certain hair color or a certain overall physical appearance. But, that actually isn’t the case.”

Image credits: alextaylorrc

“What the selected women all had in common was the way that they walked, and how they generally held themselves in public”

“The selected women all had a similar ‘awkwardness’ to the way that they walked and carried themselves. So let me explain to you what that looked like. The first part of the woman had a gait that was a little bit too small for their body, which resulted in smaller steps, slower speed, and their arms more typically to their sides, or crossed, as well as their heads being down, and not really taking in their general surroundings, which indicated three different things to these potential attackers.” 

“A) It signaled to potential attackers that they were a lot more fearful and anxious, and because their heads were down instead of looking at their general surroundings, that would be a lot easier to surprise. B) It signaled to potential attackers that these women were generally weaker than other potential victims. It gave them the indication that they may be ill, injured, or just generally more fragile than other women and easier to subdue.” 

“And C) because these women had their arms close to their body or crossed, it seemed easier for an attacker to come up behind them and wrap their arms around them with less resistance. On the other hand, the other part of the women that were selected had a gait that seemed a bit too big for their body, and their arms tended to flail to the sides and seemed just overly awkward.”

“And this signaled to the men, two things: A) That they were probably more clumsy and had less coordination than other potential victims. So if they were to attack these women, they would not be able to put up as much of a good fight. And B) because their arms were out and flailing to the side, it left the lower body open to, again, come around and grab them.”

“So let’s talk about the women who weren’t chosen and why the women who were not selected walked with a gait that tended to be more natural to their body. And as far as pace goes, they kept the same pace as everyone else in the immediate area. They also tended to walk with their shoulders back and their chins up. And they looked around at their surroundings and asserted more of a general confidence.”

“Essentially, the women that were not selected gave off an energy that said, ‘Don’t mess with me, I will put up a good fight.’ And that’s why they weren’t selected. I know that it sounds silly, but something as simple as the way you walk or the way that you carry yourself in public could determine the likelihood that you become a target of a predator.”

“But because we have this study, we know that it’s a possibility. And I know that it can seem difficult to consciously think about the way that you’re walking or carrying yourself in public.”

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Image credits: alextaylorrc

“But I do have a method to share with you to help you think about it more, and that is the STAAR method”

“S is for stride. Walk with a stride that is natural to your body and not too far apart or not too short. T is for tall. Stand tall. Keep your shoulders back and your chin up. Assert a natural confidence and dominance to those around you. The first A stands for arms. Make sure that your arms are swinging naturally by your sides and avoid keeping your arms too close to your body or flailing out of your natural range of motion.”

“The second A stands for awareness. Stay aware of your surroundings. Take notice if something feels or looks off. And lastly, R stands for relax. Make sure that you stay cool, calm and collected and don’t give off any indication that you feel or see that something is wrong, to a potential attacker.”

“That’s all I have for this video, but I hope that you guys learned something that you didn’t already know and that you can implement into your daily life. Like this video and share it so that other people know and stay tuned for some more educational content about how to keep yourself safe. Stay safe, and have a great rest of your day. Bye, guys.”

Image Credits: Nubia Navarro

Check out the original video here

@alextaylorrc welcome to video #1 in my new safety series: the way you walk could decrease the likelihood of becoming a target of a potential attacker. something as simple as changing the way that you walk and the way that you carry yourself could keep you safe from a possible threat! your overall demeanor could be the deterrent of an attacker, so this is something to keep in mind day to day! much love to you all and stay safe 🖤 #safetytips #womenssafety #educationalcontent #educationalcontentcreator #truecrime #truecrimecommunity #truecrimetok ♬ original sound – alextaylorrc

People don’t realize how powerful their nonverbal cues are and every tiny little thing about them can make them a potential target of a psychopath

A student of forensic psychology shared that people’s walking styles can signal to predators whether they are ‘better’ victims to prey on. She said that if a person seems underconfident, nervous, or awkward while walking, it’s likelier that psychopaths will prey on them. Predators can also identify women who have more confidence and don’t tend to pick on them.

It’s interesting to note that 55% of the way humans communicate is through nonverbal cues. People can tell a lot about us through the ways that we move, gesture, and emote. They can even know if we are feeling happy, confident, sad, tired, anxious, and a lot more. According to body language experts, “we make judgments about people based on these cues every day without thinking about it, yet most people have not given any thought to what their own body language says about them.”

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What’s scarier to learn is that psychopaths are skilled in nonverbal communication, and that’s often the basis of how they select their victims. Studies show that their attention to body language helps them select “easy” victims. That’s why they can even pick up peoples’ vulnerabilities from their gait.

Research has also found that psychopaths are likelier to prey on more submissive women. In studies, women who were perceived to be submissive made smaller and more subtle gestures with their hands and feet, while women who were considered more dominant had more expansive gestures.

Bored Panda interviewed Dr. Ken Manges, a forensic psychologist and trauma interventionalist, to get his perspective on the study shared in the video. He shared, “there was not one study but multiple studies in which the prison inmates were asked to identify their potential targets. Those predators who target females by their gait are picking up on the walker’s vulnerabilities.”

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

Dr. Kenneth also broke down a few salient points from the experiments on walking styles, saying: “one study pointed out that walking with smaller steps, with their arms close to their body and not looking around their environment are seen as timid, and capable of being easily assaulted because they would not see their attacker coming.”

“In another study, those women who walk with a wider stride are not, as the TikTok presenter suggested, seen as potential victims. Rather, another study found that a woman who has a less synchronous walk (atypical, gangly, unusual) were perceived as less confident and more vulnerable,” he added.

If psychopaths pay attention to people’s walking styles to identify their potential victims, it’s safe to say that they also look at other factors to know who they shouldn’t mess with. Studies on people who practice Krav Maga found that predators tend to stay away from them because of their low vulnerability cues. So it seems that knowing self-defense techniques can make a person appear more confident, self-assured, and less vulnerable.

Relating to the STAAR suggestion in the video, Dr. Ken shared another version of it saying, “there are other uses of the STAR acronym including this one (S) Scan. Being aware of your environment. (T) Take note. Look out for suspicious activity. (A) Action. Take action and avoid potential threats. (R) Run. Run to safety if confronted.”

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It’s important to note that it’s never the victim’s fault if someone attacks or assaults them. The onus is always on the attacker. But the more we know about the way psychopaths think, the better we can work to protect ourselves against them. People were grateful for the information and the video got 7.9 million views, 1.3 million likes, and 10k comments. 

Have you ever come across an interesting study like this? Do share it in the comments, or let us know what you think about the research.

Commenters were grateful for the woman sharing her expertise, and many mentioned that they had adopted the Winter Soldier walk for that exact reason 

Image credits: Erik Mclean (not the actual photo)

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