Is personality reflected in gestures?

Abstract

Previous studies on gestures and personality suggest an ambiguous picture of the effects of the various personality dimensions on the different types of speech gestures and adaptors. In foreign language learning an additional variable to take into account is proficiency, which some studies have shown to affect gestures. In this study we explore how various intrinsic variables, including personality, proficiency, gender and age affect the gestures of 61 Cantonese speakers of English as a second language. Participants were asked to narrate a video cartoon. Their proficiency and the frequency of gestures produced was based on those narrations. A functional categorization of gestures was followed, dividing them into semantic and discursive, and also noted adaptors and micro-gestures, referred to as “flutters”. Personality was self-reported using the 44 question Big-Five inventory. Correlations and a series of generalized linear models were developed to explore the interplay between variables. Significant correlations found agreeableness, positively correlated with semantic gestures; and neuroticism and age negatively correlated with flutter duration. Extraversion was positively related to adaptor duration, although this was not reflected in the models. Contrary to the findings from previous studies, no significant relationships were found between neuroticism and adaptors or semantic gestures, nor between extraversion or openness and semantic gestures. Proficiency and gender had little effect on gestures. None of the models are very strong, suggesting that other variables, aside from the those tested, should be considered. The results suggest that anxiety might have a greater impact on gesture production rather than proficiency or personality.