Body Posture and Orientation
“Body posture as a complex and composite behavior is believed to transmit the general impression of a person” (Heller, 1997, cited in Knöfler & Imhof, 2007).Image Courtesy of http://straighteyeforthestraightguy.blogspot. Image Courtesy of ABC Modern Family; Getty Images |
Body posture and other kinesic gestures within the homosexual community tend to be stereotypically identified by other members of the community, as well as by heterosexual individuals. According to Fingerhut & Peplau (2006), Neakrase (2007), and Rieger et al. (2010), cited in Hansen (2011, p.29) “these stereotypes perpetuate messages that gay men diverge from traditional masculine behavior and that they are more likely to possess more feminine characteristics and dynamic movements than their straight counterparts”.
Studies have shown that women like to directly face each other while in conversation, while males see each other at an angle (Tannen, 1997, cited in Knöfler & Imhof, 2007). However, in a study set up by Knöfler & Imhof (2007), the question they posed forward was if patterns of nonverbal behavior in conversational dyads vary depending on the sexual orientation of the conversational partners when it comes to body posture, body orientation, self touch, and eye contact. In terms of body posture and orientation, they coded the recorded interaction behavior, the researchers coded the female stereotype, a male stereotype, and a neutral pattern.
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“The overall picture shows that the feminine and masculine posture were most distinct in the purely heterosexual dyads in accordance with the respective gender stereotype. In contrast, both mixed and in purely homosexual dyads, the neutral posture was most prominent.” (Knöfler & Imhof, 2007, p.197). |
Image Courtesy of GIPHY “Male homosexuals do not imitate feminine posture types and that female homosexuals do not put forth masculine posture types, but both female and male homosexuals seem to prefer a neutral expression in their posture.” (Knöfler & Imhof, 2007, p.198). |
According to Knöfler & Imhof (2007) findings, when it comes to body orientation, in same sex dyads, there is usually full face orientation, with the torso and both shoulders being parallel with the shoulders of the partner. In mixed dyads, there is more neutral positioning, with a shoulder position between full parallel.