A new study suggests that men tend to walk slower when they are with their female romantic partners but walks faster when with other men.
According to a study conducted by Cara M. Wall-Scheffler, an anthropologist from the University of Washington and her colleague Janelle Wagnild, a biologist at Seattle Pacific University, the walking speed of both men and women may say something about their friendships and romantic relationships.
The researchers recruited 22 college students -- some are strangers, friends, and romantic partners -- and had them walk around a track in a public park by two’s and by themselves. They observed and measured their walking speeds.
Their findings confirmed that men walk slower when walking with their romantic partners but walks fast when with other men.
Women, like men, walk slower when they are with their partners. However, women tend to walk much slower when they are with their girlfriends.
All of these changes in speed happened instinctively.
“These findings have implications for both mobility and reproductive strategies of groups," Wall-Scheffler wrote. Since the man bears the energetic burden by adjusting his pace by slowing down seven percent, the woman is spared from the potentially increased caloric lost when walking together.
“By men slowing down, the female reproduction is protected, and that’s not something that is trivial,” Wall-Scheffler told L.A Times. “There is so much data that when women are able to reduce the amount of energy they spend walking, they have more children.”
Numerous studies have shown that daily walking distances can affect the interval among births and especially the survival rates of offspring in foraging world.
“In indigenous, hunter-gatherer populations -- groups who are walking huge amounts -- we see females walking together with other females and we see men tending to walk by themselves or maybe with one other individual,” Wall-Scheffler added. “That’s typical, cross-culturally.”
The study was published in the Oct. 24 issue of the online journal PLOS One.
