The so-called “power stance” has attracted a fair amount of ridicule in recent years, not least after numerous Conservative politicians were spotted adopting the posture. Despite the ridicule, research from Ohio State University suggests that it may nonetheless be effective in boosting people’s confidence when speaking.

The findings emerged after data was extracted from over 130 experiments featuring a total of over 10,000 participants. The results show that certain poses do indeed appear to influence our hormone levels.

The right posture

The researchers suggest that things like posture and body language are commonly used in psychology to help people feel more secure or to experience positive emotions. While the pose demonstrated in the image above is the most commonly associated with “power poses”, the researchers also highlight the popularity of the “victory pose”, which sees outstretched arms displayed in a show of self-confidence.

“However, many of these studies are inconclusive and were conducted with small samples. Moreover, studies sometimes have contradictory results,” the researchers explain.

By assessing the literature the researchers hope to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of such poses on our behavior, self-perception, and hormone levels. For instance, they found that there does indeed appear to be a link between an upright posture, such as the power pose, and positive self-perception.

Physiological changes

Interestingly, certain poses did not seem to have any real physiological effects, such as the production of hormones, including cortisol and testosterone, despite various claims to the contrary.

“The findings on the physiological effects of power posing are not robust and have not been replicated by independent research groups,” the researchers explain.

Ultimately, the study found some quite significant limitations in the study of power poses, with many previous works failing to include a control group.

“Because of that, it is not possible to say where the differences come from, as only one of the two poses may have an effect,” the researchers explain.

Similarly, they nearly all included participants from so-called WEIRD countries (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic), so it’s very unclear whether what findings they do have can be applied to other cultures or not. So, it seems, the jury is still largely out on their efficacy, even if the jury is perhaps rather more decided on just how ridiculous they look.