Abstract
When feeling powerful humans and other animals display expansive postures, but can posing in expansive and powerful postures also generate empowerment? Researchers have studied the “power posing effect” the concept that powerful expansive postures generate empowerment, and found conflicting evidence. Some evidence of power posing’s impact shows increased hormones and a variety of behaviors indicating greater confidence. Yet still others have found no effect on hormones or behaviors, and suggest the impact of power posing is overstated. The goal of this project was to replicate and extend previous knowledge and contribute to the debate as to the efficacy of power posing, specifically examining the impact on participants’ self-reported social problem-solving efficacy, self-esteem, and optimism. 119 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: high power pose, low power pose, or a control group with a puzzle solving task, and asked to complete self-report measures of optimism, self-esteem, and problem-solving self-efficacy. Current findings suggest expansive posture demonstrates no measurable impact on psychological attitudes, and contributes to recent literature contradicting the power posing effect. Research and practical implications are discussed.
Highlights
The study of physical postures has enjoyed a long history
Researchers have begun to unpack the mechanisms through which confidence and positive attitudes are facilitated with expansive posture
Group means for optimism, self-esteem, problem solving self-efficacy, and problem solving skill were compared by pose
Summary
The study of physical postures has enjoyed a long history. In one of the first studies of postural display, Riskind and Gotay (1982) found motivational and emotional impact on both the self and others across a series of four studies. Research has found that holding dominant or expansive postures increases subjects’ feelings of power, confidence, pain tolerance, self-esteem, and lowers fear (Huang, Galinsky, Gruenfeld, & Guillory, 2011; Bohns & Wiltermuth, 2012; Nair, Sagar, Sollers, Consedine, & Broadbent, 2014). Dominant poses increase salivary and blood serum levels of testosterone, which is a hormone linked to dominance and status-seeking, while lowering levels of cortisol, a hormone linked to stress and low social status (Carney, Cuddy, & Yap, 2010) Together this hormonal combination suggests power posing leaves a subject feeling dominant and powerful, while less stressed. The cognitive processing gains of empowerment combined with the psychological and hormonal changes including increased testosterone, lowered cortisol, and greater confidence and self-esteem, for instance, have potential to greatly improve performance. Research has found that subjects who engaged in power posing prior to job interviews were more frequently chosen for hire (Carney et al, 2010; Cuddy, Wilmuth, Yap, & Carney, 2015)
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