The More Upright, The More Positive. Get Straight!

According to Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist at Harvard University (USA), body language shapes our identity. Cuddy has helped publicize the role that posture plays in mood.

If we know that the mind can induce changes in the body, could the body also change the mind? I’m talking about thoughts, feelings, and the physiological components that shape them, like hormones.

A posture of power improves mood

The gestures to involve a wide occupation of space, a clear sign of fearlessness. On the contrary, the collapsed posture implies shrinking, insecurity, sadness, and even fear. It is something that we have all experienced or lived, and confirmed by studies.

Amy Cuddy tells us that humans, like other animals, express power with their body postures. They fold back on themselves when they feel insecure, shrinking, hunching over, crossing their arms over their chest, and reducing movements. On the contrary, when they feel strong they expand and take up more space.

Cuddy and her collaborator Dana Carney – who is from the University of Berkeley (USA) – wondered if adopting these positions could change the internal state of a person and make them feel more powerful.

More testosterone, less cortisol

To find out, Cuddy and Carney conducted an experiment involving testosterone and cortisol. Testosterone is the hormone of power – at high levels it creates a sense of security – while cortisol is the hormone associated with stress.

We know that people with leadership skills are often characterized by a high level of testosterone and a low level of cortisol.

In the experiment, people were asked to adopt a power stance or a low-power stance for two minutes.

They were then asked if they wanted to bet. 86% of those who had adopted the position of power chose to gamble, while only 60% of those who had maintained the position of low power chose to do so, with a significant difference of 26% between one group and another.

But not only did they find out this information during the investigation, they drew even more interesting conclusions. They discovered physiological differences between the two study groups, based on saliva samples.

While those in the power pose showed an 8% increase in their testosterone levels, in the group that experienced the low power pose there was a 10% decrease in this hormone.

The reverse reaction occurred with cortisol, the stress hormone. People who held the power pose experienced a 25% reduction in their cortisol levels, while those who held the low power pose had a 15% increase in their stress levels.

Posture conditions thoughts

Other studies, such as those of Professor Erik Peper, from the University of San Francisco (USA), show that, in an upright position, it is easier for us to choose our positive personal traits, while when we are hunched what comes to us to the mind are negative ideas, and the researcher concludes that our body posture ends up influencing our self-confidence.

Hunched over, more depression? Peper and her team believe that posture also contributes to low energy and depression.

Perhaps we should consider that the time we spend hunched over and sitting at the computer or looking at the phone can influence the increase in depression in recent years.