Perception of strength and power of realistic male characters

Abstract

We investigated the influence of body shape and pose on the perception of physical strength and social power for male virtual characters. In the first experiment, participants judged the physical strength of varying body shapes, derived from a statistical 3D body model. Based on these ratings, we determined three body shapes (weak, average, and strong) and animated them with a set of power poses for the second experiment. Participants rated how strong or powerful they perceived virtual characters of varying body shapes that were displayed in different poses. Our results show that perception of physical strength was mainly driven by the shape of the body. However, the social attribute of power was influenced by an interaction between pose and shape. Specifically, the effect of pose on power ratings was greater for weak body shapes. These results demonstrate that a character with a weak shape can be perceived as more powerful when in a high-power pose.

Visual Perception and Evaluation of Photo-Realistic Self-Avatars From 3D Body Scans in Males and Females

“…The higher sensitivity to weight changes for females is in line with literature showing that female body image concerns center around their body weight (Feingold and Mazzella, 1998). Future studies should investigate visual perception of different aspects of the body, such as muscularity, masculinity, strength (Wellerdiek et al, 2015), confidence, attractiveness, and how this relates to personality traits and body acceptance.…”

Shape up! Perception based body shape variation for data-driven crowds

“…Wellerdiek et.al. [10] recently explored how body shapes and postures affect perceived strength and power of male characters. See [4] for a thorough overview of recent research in body perception.…”