articlePsychological ScienceSep 20, 2010Closed access

Power Posing

Columbia University · Harvard University Press

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefpubmed

Abstract

Humans and other animals express power through open, expansive postures, and they express powerlessness through closed, contractive postures. But can these postures actually cause power? The results of this study confirmed our prediction that posing in high-power nonverbal displays (as opposed to low-power nonverbal displays) would cause neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: High-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern. In short, posing in displays of power caused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral…

Citation impact

856
total citations
FWCI
95.98
Percentile
100%
References
48
Citations per year

Authors

3

Topics & keywords

Keywords
  • Psychology
  • Feeling
  • Power (physics)
  • Expansive
  • Nonverbal communication
  • Social psychology
  • Developmental psychology
  • Cognitive psychology
No related works found for this paper.

Funding