Actions Speak Louder than Words The Impact of

Actions Speak Louder than Words The Impact of Gender and Race on Personal Space Hannah Fetty Marshall University Introduction Nonverbal behavior can display one’s implicit attitudes. Furthermore, studies have linked the attitudes that a person has toward an individual to the nonverbal behavior the person exhibits toward that individual (Word, Zanna, & Cooper, 1974). Moreover, while most people understand that prejudice is wrong, they are still unable to recognize their own biases (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000). This suggests that nonverbal behavior can be used to predict potential underlying bias because often times one’s nonverbal responses to people and situations are subconscious. Research Purpose The present research sought to investigate nonverbal behavior in terms of gender and race. Hypotheses 1. Individuals will stand closer to those who are moderately similar in gender than those who are completely similar in both gender and race, moderately similar in race, and completely dissimilar. 2. Individuals will stand closer to Caucasian women than Caucasian men, non. Caucasian women, and non-Caucasian men. Participants Data were collected from 119 participants (64 women and 55 men; 69 Caucasian and 50 non-Caucasian individuals) across three different locations: Huntington Mall in Barboursville, WV; Panera Bread in Barboursville, WV; and Starbucks at Marshall University. Procedure and Materials Distances between individuals standing in line were used to assess underlying biases. Floor tiles were measured and then used to estimate physical distance between individuals. Participant variables were operationally defined by the researcher and included the actor (person joining the line) and target’s (individual standing in line) gender (i. e. , individual appeared physically masculine or feminine) and race (i. e. , individual appeared to be of Caucasian or Non-Caucasian decent). The dependent variable was the distance from which the actor stood from the target. Results Data were analyzed using a 2 (participant gender: man or woman) x 2 (participant race: Caucasian or Non-Caucasian) between-subjects analysis of variance. The first hypothesis was not supported; however, all observed groups did not stand equal distances from each other F(3, 115) = 9. 38, p =. 000013. Specifically, those who were completely dissimilar stood further from each other than the other groups. For additional descriptive statistics, see Table 1. The second hypothesis was also not supported; however, there was a trend toward significance. All actors stood equal distance from all targets, regardless of target gender and race F(3, 115) = 2. 20, p =. 092. For additional descriptive statistics, see Table 2. Limitations and Conclusions The results suggest that completely dissimilar pairs stood further from each other than pairs of highly similar others and others of the same gender or race. Furthermore, a trend toward significance was found between the distance stood from Caucasian women and Non-Caucasian men with individuals preferring to keep a smaller distance from Caucasian women than Non-Caucasian men. One limitation that was observed was that people often stand different distances apart from one another at different points in line. This could potentially be seen as a confounding variable. Further research should also suggest that these underlying biases toward people who are completely dissimilar affect all areas of life, not just the distance between two individuals in line. References Dovidio, J. F. , & Gaertner, S. L. (2000). Aversive racism and selection decisions: 1989 and 1999. Psychological Science, 11(4), 315 -319. Word, C. O. , Zanna, M. P. , Cooper, J. (1974). The nonverbal mediation of self-fulfilling prophecies in interracial interaction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 109 -120.