February/ March 2008: Interesting findings

* Walking speed: what's your pace?

A new study by Richard Wiseman, professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, revealed that people all around the world are starting to walk faster.

People from 32 countries were secretly timed while walking over a 60 foot stretch of uncrowded sidewalk. The results were then compared to a study on walking speeds conducted in the 1994. Wiseman found that people in cities around the world are walking an average of 10% faster than they did in 1994.

Who cares? To psychologists this is an important finding, since walking speed is a good indicator of a society's pace of life. Our pace may by closely tied to advances in technology such as internet and mobile phones, which lead people to become more inpatient and eager to cram more into each day.

Which cities do you think move at the fastest pace? Take a guess before reading the list below.

The world's top 10 fast-pace cities:

1. Singapore (Singapore); 10.55 seconds


2. Copenhagen (Denmark); 10.82


3. Madrid (Spain); 10.89


4. Guangzhou (China): 10.94


5. Dublin (Ireland); 11.03


6. Curitiba (Brazil); 11.13


7. Berlin (Germany); 11.16


8. New York (United States of America); 12.00


9. Utrecht (Netherlands); 12.04


10. Vienna (Austria); 12.06

According to an informal poll at personality100, most people expected New York city to be at the top of the list. We wonder: Is it that New Yorkers DO tend to move very quickly on average, but in a rebellious fashion (darting in and out of traffic) that actually slows them down more over time? And, maybe even more curious: why is it important to us (americans) that new york 'wins' the race to be the fastest?

Previous research has shown that walking speeds are closely linked to other indicators of behaviour and even health. As people move faster they become less likely to help others, and also tend to have higher rates of stress, sickness, and heart disease.

__________________

*Personality100.com Analysis

- Your assignment today is to take notice of your friends', family members' and colleagues' walking speeds. Do some walk fast faster than others? Do you notice any connections with their walking speed and personality?

- What's your walking speed? Do you walk faster or slower depending on your mood? Today, try deliberately walking faster or slower than normal to see how it impacts your emotions.

__________________