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Power posing

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Amy Cuddy at a public understanding of science event demonstrating her theory of "power posing", illustrated with a picture of the comic-book superhero Wonder Woman.

Power posing is a hypothesis in psychology that claims that by assuming a "powerful" posture, subjects can induce positive hormonal and behavioral changes. It was introduced in a 2010 paper by Dana Carney, Amy Cuddy, and Andy Yap.[1]

Scholars have reported being unable to replicate power posing effects in follow-up studies.[2][3] The theory has been described as an example of the replication crisis in psychology, in which initially seductive theories could not be replicated on follow-up tests.[4]

Dana Carney, the lead author of the original article, issued a statement in 2016 abandoning the theory: "I do not believe that 'power pose effects' are real...the evidence against the existence of power poses is undeniable," while Cuddy has continued work on it.[5][6][1]

Initial claims

The initial research on power posing was published in 2010. The authors claimed that high-power poses "produce power". The study included 42 participants, who were coached by research to assume a physical position of power. Hormone levels were measured before and after, and the authors stated that they found an increase in testosterone and a decrease in cortisol after posing.[1][7]

Refutation

A 2015 article, published in Psychological Science by Ranehill et al. refuted findings in Carney et al. (2010).[2] Carney strongly favored the publication of the Ranehill case of failed replication in her review of the article.[5]

The statistical methods that may have led to the original erroneous findings were reviewed by noted researchers including Uri Simonsohn and Joseph P. Simmons of the Wharton School in their 2016 paper. This paper concludes that, "the behavioral and physiological effects of expansive versus contractive postures ought to be treated as hypotheses currently lacking in empirical support". [3] The paper omits the p-curve analysis that supports the replicability of the effects of expansive posture on feelings of power despite its presence in the original blog post.[3]

In 2016 Carney published a statement on the University of California, Berkeley website, stating that she no longer believed the effect was valid.[1][5][8][6]

Joseph Cesario, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University, who co-edits Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, had asked Carney to review the power pose papers and in June 2017 published a special issue with eleven new studies, along with a meta-analyses, which found that the effect of power posing on power behaviors was not replicated.[3][9] [10][11] [12] The published studies were designed to definitively answer whether the power-posing hypothesis was real and included high quality research features like pre-registration of endpoints.[13] Carney co-authored the introduction to the issue, and noted that while the meta-analysis failed to find any effect in power behaviors, it did find a small effect in a feeling of power; she also wrote that the studies could not resolve whether the effect on a feeling of power was an only experimental artifact.[13]

Public attention

The concept gained attention after a TED talk given by Cuddy in 2012, where she demonstrated the posture and argued for its benefits.[1][14] CNN and Oprah discussed "power posing".[1] By 2017, Cuddy's 2012 TED talk on had become "TED’s second-most popular" and had been viewed by about 43 million viewers.[1] Cuddy said that she felt that the idea appealed to her given her experience of recovering from head trauma in a car accident, which she said helped develop her interest in “studying how people can become their aspirational selves...How can you become a self that you are not now?”[1]

An extensive series of articles on power posing replication was published by New York magazine by Jesse Singal and other contributors in its Science of Us section.[8][6][15][16]


See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Dominus, Susan (October 18, 2017). "When the Revolution Came for Amy Cuddy". New York Times Magazine. As a young social psychologist, she played by the rules and won big: an influential study, a viral TED talk, a prestigious job at Harvard. Then, suddenly, the rules changed.
  2. ^ a b Ranehill, Eva; Dreber, Anna; Johannesson, Magnus; Leiberg, Susanne; Sul, Sunhae; Weber, Roberto A. (May 26, 2015). "Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women" (PDF). Psychological Science. 26 (5): 653–6. doi:10.1177/0956797614553946. PMID 25810452.
  3. ^ a b c d Simmons, Joseph P. (June 10, 2016). "Power Posing: P-Curving the Evidence". Data Colada. Psychological Science (forthcoming). Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Ioannidis, John P. A. (30 August 2005). "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False". PLoS Medicine. 2 (8): e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  5. ^ a b c Carney, Dana R. (nd). "My position on "Power Poses"" (PDF). Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Singal, Jesse; Dahl, Melissa. "Here Is Amy Cuddy's Response to Critiques of Her Power-Posing Research". New York magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  7. ^ Carney, Dana R.; Cuddy, Amy J.C.; Yap, Andy J. (January 10, 2010). "Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance" (PDF). Psychological Science. 21 (10). SAGE Publications: 1363–1368. doi:10.1177/0956797610383437. These findings suggest that, in some situations requiring power, people have the ability to "fake it 'til they make it." Over time and in aggregate, these minimal postural changes and their outcomes potentially could improve a person's general health and well-being. This potential benefit is particularly important when considering people who are or who feel chronically powerless because of lack of resources, low hierarchical rank in an organization, or membership in a low-power social group.
  8. ^ a b Singal, Jesse. "'Power Posing' Co-author: 'I Do Not Believe That 'Power Pose' Effects Are Real'". New York magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  9. ^ Morris, David Z. (October 2, 2016). "'Power Poses' Researcher Dana Carney Now Says Effects are "Undeniably" False". Fortune.
  10. ^ Kluger, Jeffrey (September 26, 2017). "'Power Poses' Don't Actually Work. Try These Confidence-Boosting Strategies Instead". Time. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  11. ^ Cesario, Joseph; Henion, Andy (September 10, 2017). "Eleven New Studies Suggest 'Power Poses' Don't Work". Michigan State University. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  12. ^ Bartels, Meghan (September 13, 2017). "'Power poses' don't really make you more powerful, nine more studies confirm". Newsweek. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Cesario, Joseph; Jonas, Kai J.; Carney, Dana R. (28 June 2017). "CRSP special issue on power poses: what was the point and what did we learn?". Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology. 2 (1): 1–5. doi:10.1080/23743603.2017.1309876.
  14. ^ "TEDGlobal". Program Speakers, 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Interesting House-of-Cards Element to the Fall of Power Poses was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Why People Love(d) Power Posing: A Science of Us Conversation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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