Study Shows Men Feel More Powerful While Walking In A Group
- 10 years ago
In a study conducted by the University of California, men walking in formation are more prone to aggression and intimidation towards those outside their group they deem a threat.
The saying "there's strength in numbers" may have gotten scientific research to back it up.
A new study done by the University of California, Los Angeles claims that synchronized walking done by a group of men makes them feel less intimidated by others and may make them more prone to aggression.
This comes on the heels of the Ferguson, Missouri riots, and whether or not riot-police are more likely to become violent while in formation.
According to Daniel Fessler, co-author of the research paper, "That calculation appears to make men who march with other men feel less vulnerable and more powerful and their potential foe more easily vanquished. We theorize that it also makes them more likely to use violence than they otherwise would be.”
For the study, researchers walked around the university campus individually with 96 different male student participants. Sometimes they walked naturally, other times in synchronization.
Afterwards, subjects were shown a mugshot of an angry male face. The men who had walked synchronistically found the photos to be less intimidating than the men who had walked casually.
A slight problem does arise by comparing study results done on undergrads to the police, because one group is highly trained in combat, while the other is not.
It's also been suggested that uniforms and weapons may also result in more aggression, instead of the group formation.
Regardless, this study shows that a person is more or less likely to feel threatened depending on how and with whom they are marching.
The saying "there's strength in numbers" may have gotten scientific research to back it up.
A new study done by the University of California, Los Angeles claims that synchronized walking done by a group of men makes them feel less intimidated by others and may make them more prone to aggression.
This comes on the heels of the Ferguson, Missouri riots, and whether or not riot-police are more likely to become violent while in formation.
According to Daniel Fessler, co-author of the research paper, "That calculation appears to make men who march with other men feel less vulnerable and more powerful and their potential foe more easily vanquished. We theorize that it also makes them more likely to use violence than they otherwise would be.”
For the study, researchers walked around the university campus individually with 96 different male student participants. Sometimes they walked naturally, other times in synchronization.
Afterwards, subjects were shown a mugshot of an angry male face. The men who had walked synchronistically found the photos to be less intimidating than the men who had walked casually.
A slight problem does arise by comparing study results done on undergrads to the police, because one group is highly trained in combat, while the other is not.
It's also been suggested that uniforms and weapons may also result in more aggression, instead of the group formation.
Regardless, this study shows that a person is more or less likely to feel threatened depending on how and with whom they are marching.