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Sixteen male and sixteen female student observers were shown computer-simulated sequences of male and female head movement based on time-series protocols of real-life interactions and were asked to rate their impressions of the computer actors on the screen. While in one experimental condition the sex of the movement origin matched the sex of the computer model, the movement protocols were exchanged in the second condition. Impression formation effects were analyzed in a three-factorial ANOVA design, with the independent factors (1) sex of observer, (2) sex of computer model, and (3) sex of movement origin. The results point to strong main effects of the sex of movement origin. Male behavior was perceived as more active and mobile, whether displayed by a male or female computer model. However, three-way interactions indicate that male and female head movement was evaluated differently by male and female observers depending on the sex of the computer model. Counterintuitively, female computer models scored higher in male observers' judgments of "friendliness" and "attractiveness" when displaying male head movement.In an early review of the literature, EIIsworth and Ludwig (1972) stated that "in research on nonverbal behavior sex differences are the rule rather than the exception" (p. 379). Despite the empirical evidence for sex differences in nonverbal decoding abilities as well as in many aspects of nonverbal behavior (see Hall, 1978Hall, , 1984, the authors pointed to specific measurement and design problems, which have long restricted nonverbal research to mainly descriptive issues (EIIsworth & Ludwig, 1972). One problem has been the predominant use of aggregate data, which made it difficult to isolate relevant cues from the continuous stream of behavior and to relate these cues to particular social effects or interpersonal meaning. With the technological and methodological developments of the last two decades, however, this problem has been largely solved. Video-based,

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