Should you be “Power Posing”?
I wanted to provide a link to a favourite Ted talk of mine, an oldie but a goodie! Amy Cuddy is an American social psychologist and presented a now famous talk about the relationship between our body language and the influence it can have on other people’s impression of us and, perhaps, the chemistry in our body.
The idea is, adopting expansive, superhero type postures can make us feel more confident, capable and in fact, powerful than if we adopt contractive, hunched postures. The research Cuddy conducted in 2012 supported her theory that the more expansive poses could improve peoples impression of us during stressful situations such as presentations and job interviews etc. After adopting the ‘power-poses’ for a short period prior to the event, people were seen as more confident, capable and more likely to be hired than if they hadn’t adopted the pose. It also concluded it can even alter the chemistry in our body (hormones and neurotransmitters) to physiologically change confidence levels, therefore not just changing other peoples perceptions but our own perceptions of ourselves also.
Since her groundbreaking research there has been a large number of critics and studies attempting to repeat the findings, some of which were successful but some of which were not, especially when looking at the hormonal aspect of the research. In a 2017 interview, Cuddy acknowledges the mixed findings and states she now realizes the relationship between posture and hormones is far more sophisticated than we once thought and as testing procedures have advanced there is far greater variability than her study concluded.
When asked what she would do differently now she concludes with “Finally, as sticky as the power-posing-for-two-minutes idea is and as much as many people feel it has helped them, it oversimplifies the broader idea — that how we carry our bodies affects how we feel about ourselves, how we interact with others, how we perform and so on. My unintentional oversimplification may have allowed people to miss the forest for the trees. That makes me sad because it’s a much bigger idea. As Maya Angelou wrote, “Stand up straight, and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances.” It’s not just about standing like a superhero for two minutes; it’s about carrying yourself with power and pride and poise, as you deserve to do.” (Biello, 2017).
For me, I don’t mind not knowing why the effects happen. As a Registered Massage Therapist, it is common in our industry to get caught up in the ‘why’ and dismiss an effective modality if we don’t understand how it works. I believe the most important factor is how people, or our clients, feel. It is the clinical experience and findings that matter most to me. Im a big fan of the placebo effect, something we are still researching heavily. If someone feels better after a treatment I give, I will repeat that treatment even if the ‘evidence’ says it shouldn’t work. And if someone feels more confident going into an exam, interview or presentation after standing like a superhero in the bathroom for 2 minutes then good on them. It’s important to weigh up evidence in research, but it’s equally important to listen to the people living the experience.
I watch this talk when I need a pick-me-up, and I encourage my students to do the same if it makes them believe in themselves a little more.
The video link is here and her 2017 interview with David Biello can be found here.
