Body posture effects on self‐evaluation: A self‐validation approach

Abstract

Building on the notion of embodied attitudes, we examined how body postures can influence self-evaluations by affecting thought confidence, a meta-cognitive process. Specifically, participants were asked to think about and write down their best or worse qualities while they were sitting down with their back erect and pushing their chest out (confident posture) or slouched forward with their back curved (doubtful posture). Then, participants completed a number of measures and reported their self-evaluations. In line with the self-validation hypothesis, we predicted and found that the effect of the direction of thoughts (positive/negative) on self-related attitudes was significantly greater when participants wrote their thoughts in the confident than in the doubtful posture. These postures did not influence the number or quality of thoughts listed, but did have an impact on the confidence with which people held their thoughts.

Posture and Social Problem Solving, Self-Esteem, and Optimism

“…Specifically, we sought to investigate how expansive posture impacts one's confidence for problem-solving as well as the psychological attitudes of self-esteem and optimism. While previous research provides evidence for a positive relationship between posture and self-esteem and improved mood (Nair, Sagar, Sollers, Consedine, & Broadbent, 2015) as well as evidence linking posture with overall thought confidence/metacognition (Briñol, Petty, & Wagner, 2009), recent research suggests the impact of power posing or attitudes and behavior may be quite limited (Ranehill et al, 2015;Simmons & Simonsohn, 2017). The current findings, or lack thereof, between power posing, psychological attitudes and problem-solving self-efficacy provide additional evidence in the debate against the validity of power posing and its practical utility.…”

“…Expansive body posture magnified the direction of thoughts (whether positive or negative) on self-related attitudes, while constricted posture attenuated the effect (Briñol, Petty, & Wagner, 2009) by impacting the confidence with which people held their thoughts. This self-validation impacted the extent to which participants relied on their thoughts when forming self-attitudes and judging their promise as a potential job candidate.…”

“…Body posture has been directly linked to a variety of important cognitive processes, specifically the metacognitive process of thought confidence (Briñol et al, 2009), confirmatory processing (Fischer, J., Fischer, P., Englich, Aydin, & Frey, 2011), and action orientation (Huang et al, 2011). It has also been associated with several behavioral indicators such as puzzle solving persistence (Riskind & Gotay, 1982), job interview performance and nonverbal presence (Cuddy, Wilmuth, Yap, & Carney, 2015).…”

Do Better in Math: How Your Body Posture May Change Stereotype Threat Response

“…An upright body posture is associated with increased testosterone, decreased cortisol, greater confidence, mood, and strength when compared to a sustained slouched posture, which is associated with greater chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain as well as lower confidence and energy, depressive memory bias, and failure-related emotions (Briñol, Petty, & Wagner, 2009;Canales, Cordás, Fiquer, Cavalcante, & Moreno, 2010;Carney, Cuddy, & Yap, 2010;Michalak, Mischnat, & Teismann, 2014;Peper, Booiman, Lin, & Harvey, 2016;Thrasher et al, 2011;Tsai, Peper, & Lin, 2016;Wilson & Peper, 2004).…”

“…Our posture may impact the way we perceive ourselves, as well as the way others perceive us (Briñol et al, 2009). An upright posture tends to project an assertive, dominant, and powerful person; whereas sitting in a collapsed posture may project a submissive, defeated, or depressed individual.…”