Behavioral scientists have found that people who walk faster than average tend to share certain personality traits, according to several studies.

The light turns green on a busy city street, and something almost invisible happens.

Some people surge forward like arrows, weaving through the crowd in a straight, quiet rush. Others drift, check their phones, slow down to adjust a bag, or pause to look at a shop window. You can feel the difference in tempo in your whole body. One group walks through the world. The other group walks in it.

Behavioral scientists have been tracking that tempo for years-not as a quirky detail, but as a real psychological clue. Over and over, they keep finding the same result: people who walk faster than average tend to share a surprisingly similar set of personality markers.

You think you’re just crossing the street. Your brain may be telling a very different story.

The Hidden Personality Code in Your Walking Speed

A fast walker often moves like they have an appointment with the rest of their life. Arms held close, eyes already scanning the next 60 feet. They rarely stop mid-sidewalk. They pass people without thinking. They look like time is a thin blanket that never quite covers them.

Behavioral scientists call walking speed a “behavioral residue”-a small, unconscious trail of who we are. In large population studies, researchers literally timed how long it took strangers to walk a fixed distance, then compared that with personality tests. Patterns emerged that no one expected at first.

It wasn’t just that fast walkers were “busy people.” The data suggested a deeper, repeatable personality signature.

One well-known study in New York watched thousands of pedestrians at crosswalks and along crowded sidewalks. The average pace hovered around 1.2 to 1.4 meters per second. People who walked well above that-the fastest slice-repeatedly scored higher on traits like conscientiousness and what psychologists call “time urgency.”

Take Emma, a 32-year-old project manager tracked for a small behavioral study in London. Her phone’s step data showed not just how much she walked, but how quickly those steps were taken. On days when her walking speed spiked, her productivity logs did too. She answered more emails, checked off more tasks, and reported feeling “switched on and focused.”

In lab settings, volunteers who naturally walked faster tended to answer planning questions differently. They preferred clear schedules over vague ideas. They liked goals with deadlines, not open-ended dreams. Their walking tempo echoed their inner tempo.

Researchers think this link has to do with how people value time. If you experience time as scarce and precious, you literally move through space as if it’s worth something. Fast walkers consistently report stronger future orientation-thinking about next week, next year, the next ten years. Their bodies seem to act out that forward lean before they’ve said a word.

There’s also a social element. In multiple studies, fast walkers scored higher on extraversion and “approach motivation”-the urge to move toward opportunities rather than away from threats. Their stride doesn’t just say, “I’m in a hurry.” It often says, “I’m going somewhere that matters to me.”

Glance at a sidewalk and it’s like watching different internal clocks, all ticking loudly in public.

What Faster Walkers Tend to Share (and What You Can Learn from Them)

If you watch fast walkers long enough, a small pattern of habits shows up. They usually leave a few minutes earlier than they need to-not out of anxiety, but to control their route. They choose the cleaner line through the crowd. Shorter pauses, fewer detours, less friction.

Behaviorally, they tend to apply the same playbook elsewhere. They batch tasks. They hate “dead time” in waiting rooms. They fill boring gaps with something useful-a call, a note, a quick check of a plan. This isn’t about being perfect or “ultra-productive”; it’s about being allergic to wasted time.

A simple way to see whether you share that trait is to walk a familiar 500-meter stretch and time yourself without intentionally rushing. Then repeat it on a different day when you’re distracted or tired. The gap between those times is often smaller for fast walkers. Their “default pace” sits higher than most people’s.

There’s also a health layer that quietly overlaps with personality. Large long-term studies have found that faster walking speed predicts lower mortality risk, even after adjusting for age and weight. That doesn’t mean personality alone keeps people alive longer, but it suggests that their pace aligns with a certain physical and mental vitality.

Psychologically, people with a quicker stride tend to show higher self-efficacy-that feeling of “I can handle what’s coming.” Walking quickly through a station or shopping street becomes a small, daily performance of competence. You go from point A to point B not just faster, but with fewer tiny hesitations.

On a crowded sidewalk, those micro-choices are visible. Fast walkers slip into gaps without overthinking. They decide, they move, they adjust mid-stride if needed. That’s often how they handle bigger decisions at work and at home too: small, fast commitments, corrected on the fly, rather than long, paralyzing debates.

Can (and Should) You Change Your Walking Speed?

One of the most practical tools behavioral scientists use is “embodied change”: adjusting a physical behavior to nudge a mental one. With walking speed, it can be as simple as scheduling one “purposeful walk” per day. Pick a short route-about eight to ten minutes-and walk it just a bit faster than your comfortable pace.

Don’t turn it into a workout. Focus on posture, looking ahead instead of at your phone, and moving like you have somewhere that matters to you. Let your arms swing, lengthen your stride slightly, and keep a steady, unhurried gaze. It’s a small daily rehearsal of moving through the world with intention.

Over time, many people report that this tiny ritual spills into how they handle emails, meetings, even hard conversations. Your body learns “forward” first. Your brain often follows.

Here’s what almost no study says out loud: not everyone wants to live at that pace. Some people walk slowly because they’re savoring, not because they’re drifting. Others have chronic pain, invisible disabilities, or fatigue that make any talk of “just walk faster” feel like a cruel joke. Let’s be honest: almost nobody does this every single day.

If you’re naturally slower, the goal isn’t to pretend you’re a caffeine-fueled Wall Street trader. It’s to notice when your slow pace is chosen and nourishing-and when it’s simply a habit of avoidance. Are you walking slower near work because you dread going in? Are you using your phone as a brake pedal on your own life?

Fast walkers have traps too. Studies link extremely high walking speed and chronic time urgency with stress, impatience, and less empathy for other people’s pace. That person zigzagging through the crowd like everyone else is in their way? They aren’t always thriving. Sometimes they’re just trying to outrun their own nervous system.

“Your walking speed is one of the most honest things about you. You almost never fake it on purpose.” - Anonymous behavioral scientist, interviewed off the record

Researchers often recommend a simple reflection after a walk, especially if you’ve rushed. Ask yourself one question: “Did my pace match my values just now?” If you rushed past an older neighbor who wanted to talk, that answer might sting. If you walked briskly to catch a train to a job you care about, it might feel exactly right.

• Notice your natural pace in three contexts: alone, with people you love, and under pressure at work.
• Experiment with small changes: walk 10% faster to one meeting, slightly slower on your way home.
• Use your stride as feedback, not judgment: “What does my pace say about what I’m feeling today?”

On a practical level, some therapists now use walking experiments with clients who feel stuck. A client who drifts aimlessly during a difficult life phase might be guided to schedule one “fast, purposeful walk” per week to a specific, meaningful place-a library, a friend’s house, a job center. That shift in tempo becomes a quiet rehearsal for choices that feel scarier when they’re only discussed sitting in a chair.

What Your Pace Whispers About Your Life-and What You Do With That

Once you start paying attention to walking speed, it becomes hard to unsee. The friend who’s always half a step ahead of the group. The partner who slows down for you without thinking. The coworker whose pace rises on days they feel in control, and drops when they’re lost in uncertainty.

One well-designed study found that when people moved from slower towns to faster cities, their walking speed increased within months. Not to the level of lifelong fast walkers, but enough to show that environment gently rewrites the body. Our nervous systems tune themselves to the tempo around us. We’re less fixed than we like to believe.

At a deeper level, your walking speed can act like a daily check-in-like catching your reflection in a store window and realizing you look more tired than you feel. Are you charging through your days because you’re genuinely excited about something? Or because you can’t stand what would surface if you slowed down?

On a quiet, empty street at night, your true pace tends to show itself. No deadlines, no crowds, no one to impress. Just you, your thoughts, and the rhythm of your steps on the pavement. That’s the version of your walking speed that behavioral scientists would most want to time.

Key Point	Detail	Why It Matters to You
Walking speed predicts personality traits	Fast walkers score higher on conscientiousness, time urgency, and future orientation	Helps you interpret your own and others’ everyday behavior
Your pace is partly trainable	Short “purposeful walks” can shift how decisive and focused you feel	Offers a simple, concrete self-experiment
Tempo should match your values	Walking too fast or too slow can signal stress, avoidance, or alignment	Encourages using your stride as a gentle self-check

FAQ

• Does walking faster automatically mean I’m more successful? Not really. Fast walkers often share traits linked to achievement, like time urgency and drive, but success still depends on context, luck, health, and choices. Speed is a clue, not a verdict.
  
• What counts as “faster than average” walking? In many studies, average adult walking speed is about 1.2–1.4 meters per second. People consistently above that, without forcing it, tend to show the personality patterns researchers describe.
  
• Can changing my walking speed change my personality? Not in a magical way. But walking more purposefully can shift your mindset in the moment-making you feel more focused, decisive, and engaged-which may shape habits over time.
  
• What if I physically can’t walk fast? Then the “signal” is more about intention than speed. Even a small increase relative to your baseline, or simply walking with clearer purpose, can create similar psychological effects.
  
• Is it bad to be a slow walker? No. Many reflective, creative people move slowly and live rich, intentional lives. The red flag isn’t slowness itself, but when your pace comes from avoidance, depression, or constant exhaustion rather than choice.