Why Men Walk Slowly with Romantic Partners

Love, casual talk or the desire to spend more time with a romantic partner are not the only reasons why couples slow down while walking together. A new research has found that men slow down when walking with their 'significant other' to better the chances of reproduction.

According to the research paper, the findings have implications on both mobility and reproductive strategies of humans.

All of us have an optimal walking speed, which depends on our physique and limb length. Since men have a larger body than women, they tend to walk faster. The body decides to walk at a definite pace to minimize energy expenditure. In women, if too much energy is spent they enter a 'negative energy balance', which stifles ovarian function. Apparently, men slow down to preserve the fertility of their partner and help them save on energy expenditure. 

"By men slowing down, the female reproduction is protected, and that's not something that is trivial," lead quthor, Cara M. Wall-Scheffler,of the University of Washington, Seattle, told the Los Angeles Times. "There is so much data that when women are able to reduce the amount of energy they spend walking, they have more children."

The study also found that women didn't change their pace while walking with either their partners or male friends. However, they slowed down when walking with other women.

In this study, researchers observed that college students in America followed the same rules. They watched participants as they walked around a track. The participants either walked alone, with a partner, or with their friends. The results showed that men tended to walk slowly when walking with their romantic partners.

Wall-Scheffler added that changing walking speed might be an evolutionary strategy to improve chances of producing children.

The study is published in the journal PLOS One.              

Walking Reflects Personality, Sex Life

Walking reveals a lot about one's personality; a slower walk reflects internal dialogue while a brisk walk is signal of confidence. Crossing arms while walking indicates vulnerability, according to Huffington Post.

An interesting study by John Thoresen, Quoc Vuong, and Anthony Atkinson showed that people can assess a person just by his/ her gait. In this study, participants were shown a video that had a stick-man walking. Researchers didn't include any other detail except gait and participants were asked to rate the stick-figure on different personality traits such as extraversion, approachability, trustworthiness and warmth. The results showed that the participants were consistent in their rating, showing that humans can deduce personality just by looking at the walking style.

Universiti Catholique de Louvain researchers had recently reported that a woman's walk can reveal her sexual history; women who've had vaginal orgasms tend to walk differently than others.