Analysis and Modelling of Affective Japanese Sitting Postures by Japanese and British Observers

Not only facial expressions but also body gestures and postures play an important role in non-verbal communication. Whilst evidence shows that affective standing postures account for at least four affective dimensions - arousal, valence, potency and avoidance - it is not clear if the same is true for sitting postures. In addition, whilst there is a large body of work investigating cross-cultural differences in the perception of facial expressions, there is very little work on the cross-cultural perception of body expressions. We investigated the minimal universality and cross-cultural difference in the perception of sitting postures and the body descriptors that guide these perceptual processes. Japanese body postures were collected and measured through conventional sensors. Japanese and British observers were recruited for the cross-cultural study. The results show that, for Japanese observers, the three dimensions of arousal, valence and dominance were necessary to account for most of the variance in the perception of the set of affective postures whilst, for British observers, only valence and arousal were necessary. An analysis of the body descriptors highlighted a few differences in the way these were associated with affective dimensions. It also showed that, for Japanese observers, the rating of dominance was modulated by the position of the legs, arms and trunk.