Female Submissiveness, Nonverbal Behavior, and Body Boundary Definition

Abstract

Previous studies in the United States have suggested that submissive women may be more vulnerable to criminal victimization because they present certain cues of vulnerability. Richards, Rollerson, and Phillips (1991) observed that submissive women exhibited more controlled body movements and more body-concealing clothing than did dominant women. Our purpose here was to determine whether such variability might be due to differences in body boundary definition. The results revealed no significant difference in the body boundary indicators of dominant and submissive subjects but did suggest that highly feminine women are more likely to have weak body boundaries than are more androgynous women.