A typical scene from the movie: a tough guy with a smug look talking to a girl, leaning his outstretched arm against the wall. Such postures are called power postures, because they demonstrate superiority without any words. But do they influence our behavior?
In 2010, a study was conducted at the Harvard Business School, which claimed that influence – we become much more confident in ourselves (1). However, in science it is customary to question everything, and a new experiment has demonstrated that power postures do not have as much effect on a person as it was thought.
A 2010 study found that men and women who preferred certain body positions in conversation were, on average, more confident and risk-averse. The power position of the body even affected physiology: the level of testosterone in the blood increased (the body was preparing for an “attack”) and the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) decreased. In those who clenched and took closed poses – crossed their arms or stooped, similar changes were not noted.
A new study by researchers at the University of Zurich found that while participants felt stronger, the power postures did not affect their behavior or physiology (2).
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In 2015, the researchers repeated the old experiment, but invited more participants to participate in it: 102 men and 98 women. The pose they should have taken was indicated by the computer (thus eliminating the influence of the experimenter). The study participants were then offered games that assessed their risk appetite – for example, for the sake of a 50% chance of winning a larger prize, you need to refuse (or not refuse) a guaranteed small bonus. Before and after the experiment, saliva was analyzed to assess the level of hormones.
Participants who were given the task to take a commanding stance at the end of the experiment felt stronger than the rest. However, no real changes in their behavior or physiology were found. Swiss researchers consider their experiment to be of higher quality than the one conducted at Harvard, primarily because of the larger number of participants. And they argue that previous results can be considered refuted.
1. D. Carney, A. Cuddy, A. Yap «Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance», Psychological Science, 21, 2010.
2. E. Ranehill, D. Johannesson, S. Leiburg «Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women». Psychological Science, онлайн-публикация от 25 марта 2015 года.