The inconsistency of p-curve: Testing its reliability using the power pose and HPA debates

Recent works have called into question whether p-curve can reliably assess the presence of "evidential value" within a set of studies. To examine an as-yet unexplored issue, we examined the method used to identify p-values for inclusion in a p-curve analysis. We developed iterated p-curve analysis (IPA), which calculates and p-curves every permutation for a set of reported p-values, and applied it to the data reported in several published p-curve analyses. Specifically, we investigated two phenomena for which p-curves have been used to evaluate the presence of evidential value: the power pose and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) reactivity debates. The iterated p-curve analyses revealed that the p-curve method fails to provide reliable estimates or reproducible conclusions. We conclude that p-curve should not be used to make conclusions regarding the presence or absence of evidence for a specific phenomenon.

Bodies in action: Do contractive and expansive postures facilitate adaptive behavior?

The present study investigated the effects of expansive and contractive body displays on adaptive behavior and affective outcomes. Addressing limitations in past research, the effects were investigated in two different contexts (i.e., fear context and sadness context), compared with two types of control conditions and the moderating effects of motivational traits and symptoms of psychopathology were accounted for. A sample of 186 adults completed a fear experiment involving a mock job interview and a sadness experiment involving sad mood induction. For each experiment, participants were randomly assigned to one of four body manipulations: (1) expansive; (2) contractive; (3) active control (i.e., running in place); or 4) passive control (i.e., doing nothing). The primary outcome was adaptive behavior (i.e., appropriate job-interview behavior and positive recall bias). Secondary affective outcomes were emotions, action tendencies, and appraisals. Results revealed small, non-significant effects of body displays on primary outcomes (ds = 0.19-0.28). For secondary outcomes, significant effects were identified for positive emotions (ds = 0.33). Across secondary outcomes, pairwise comparisons revealed that expansive displays led to more favorable outcomes than contractive displays. For participants with the highest levels of depression, body display conditions led to less favorable affective outcomes than control conditions. The results suggest that body displays do not influence adaptive behavior within the investigated contexts. When compared to contractive displays, expansive displays were found to yield more favorable affective changes. Lastly, the findings indicate that further investigations into body manipulations in the context of psychopathology are warranted.

Mood induction through imitation of full-body movements with different affective intentions

Theories of human emotion, including some emotion embodiment theories, suggest that our moods and affective states are reflected in the movements of our bodies. We used the reverse process for mood regulation; modulate body movements to regulate mood. Dancing is a type of full-body movement characterized by affective expressivity and, hence, offers the possibility to express different affective states through the same movement sequences. We tested whether the repeated imitation of a dancer performing two simple full-body dance movement sequences with different affective expressivity (happy or sad) could change mood states. Computer-based systems, using avatars as dance models to imitate, offer a series of advantages such as independence from physical contact and location. Therefore, we compared mood induction effects in two conditions: participants were asked to imitate dance movements from one of the two avatars showing: (a) videos of a human dancer model or (b) videos of a robot dancer model. The mood induction was successful for both happy and sad imitations, regardless of condition (human vs. robot avatar dance model). Moreover, the magnitude of happy mood induction and how much participants liked the task predicted work-related motivation after the mood induction. We conclude that mood regulation through dance movements is possible and beneficial in the work context.

College Students' Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding body posture: A cross-sectional survey--Taking a university in Wuhu City as an example

As body posture problems become more severe and tend to be younger, college students pay less attention to the effects of poor body posture. This study is an analysis of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to body posture among college and university students. A random sample of 1012 college students aged 18-21 years old from Anhui Polytechnic University was randomly selected to distribute and collect the questionnaires by online questionnaire in April 2023. Descriptive statistics were also used to analyze the response rates of college students on the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) theory of body posture. The results of the study showed that the majority of subjects demonstrated good knowledge and attitudes towards healthy body posture; Most of the sample, 66.8% were clear about the definition of body posture, and 71.9% needed a body posture assessment to understand their body posture problems, but only 27% would develop an exercise program to improve poor body posture. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that Students with higher knowledge and attitudes have good motor behavior in correcting poor body posture. In addition, our study found that among college students in the age range of 18-21 years, the younger the age, the better their behavior in improving poor body posture through exercise. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of knowledge about healthy body posture and aim to promote knowledge education programs about healthy body posture among college students and to reduce the risks associated with poor body posture.

Sitting vs. standing: an urgent need to rebalance our world

During their activities of daily living, humans run, walk, stand, sit and lie down. Recent changes in our environment have favored sedentary behavior over more physically active behavior to such a degree that our health is in danger. Here, we sought to address the problem of excessive time spent seated from various theoretical viewpoints, including postural control, human factors engineering, human history and health psychology. If nothing is done now, the high prevalence of sitting will continue to increase. We make a case for the standing position by demonstrating that spending more time upright can mitigate the physiological and psychological problems associated with excessive sitting without lowering task performance and productivity. The psychological literature even highlights potential benefits of performing certain tasks in the standing position. We propose a number of recommendations on spending more time (but not too much) in the standing position and on more active, nonambulatory behaviors. There is a need to inform people about (i) harmful consequences of excessive sitting and (ii) benefits of spending more time performing active, nonambulatory behaviors. One clear benefit is to reduce detrimental health consequences of excessive sitting and to provide potential additional benefits in terms of productivity and performance.

Effects of various sitting and standing postures on arousal and valence

According to research on the effects of posture on psychological states, high-power poses-with the body spread wide open-lead to high-arousal positive emotions, whereas low-power poses-with the body slumped and constricted-lead to low-arousal negative emotions. However, postures that lead to both high-arousal negative and low-arousal positive emotions have not been investigated yet. Although relative comparisons between postures have been made, the positioning of postures on the two-dimensional coordinates created by arousal and valence has not been clarified. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore and clarify which postures lead to the four types of emotions: high-arousal negative, high-arousal positive, low-arousal negative, and low-arousal positive. In Experiment 1, 29 participants (13 men and 16 women) adopted 12 sitting postures for 1 minute each. In Experiment 2, 25 participants (13 men and 12 women) adopted six sitting and six standing postures for 1 minute each. Arousal and valence were measured after each posture, and heart rate was measured during posture maintenance. Arousal and valence after adopting the postures were compared with the neutral arousal and valence. As a result, postures leading to high-arousal negative and low-arousal positive emotions were identified. In addition, postures leading to high-arousal positive emotions, which are the high-power poses, were identified. There were no differences in the magnitude of psychological effects between sitting and standing postures.

Using bodily displays to facilitating approach action outcomes within the context of a personally relevant task

BACKGROUND

Considerable attention has been paid to the effect of bodily (expansive and contractive) displays on affective, behavioral, and hormonal outcomes. However, the majority of past studies are limited by a lack of control groups with neutral displays and low personal relevance of the experimental tasks employed. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of adopting different bodily displays, including neutral displays, within the context of a personally relevant task.

METHODS

In an experiment with healthy participants (N = 90), we investigated the effects of two different bodily manipulations (i.e., expansive and contractive), compared to a control group (i.e., neutral displays). Effects were evaluated in terms of completed valued action in addition to processes considered potentially helpful in preparing and motivating the individual to take valued action, including a change in emotion experience, action tendencies, and appraisals.

RESULTS

Several main effects were detected and only few significant interaction effects were revealed. In case of group differences, results showed that expansive bodily displays outperformed the control group, leading to more positive emotions, more approach action tendencies, less negative emotion variability, and less avoidance action tendencies toward threat.

DISCUSSION

These results mainly suggest that identifying a valued action and explicating the underlying motivational conflict may be beneficial regardless of bodily displays. This conclusion runs somewhat counter both to our hypotheses and to findings in recent meta-analytic work. However, previous experiments have not evaluated the effect of bodily displays within a personally relevant context.

On Methods and Marshmallows: A Roadmap for Science That Is Openly Feminist and Radically Open

In this commentary, we argue that feminist science and open science can benefit from each other’s wisdom and critiques in service of creating systems that produce the highest quality science with the maximum potential for improving the lives of women. To do this, we offer a constructive analysis, focusing on common methods used in open science, including open materials and data, preregistration, and large sample sizes, and illuminate potential benefits and costs from a feminist science perspective. We also offer some solutions and deeper questions both for individual researchers and the feminist psychology and open science communities. By broadening our focus from a myopic prioritization of certain methodological and analytic approaches in open science, we hope to give a balanced perspective of science that emerges from each movement’s strengths and is openly feminist and radically open.

Embodiment: I sat, I felt, I performed - Posture effects on mood and cognitive performance

Previous embodiment findings indicate a relationship between physical posture and mood states, suggesting upright postures induce positive mood states. Findings also showed a relationship between moods and cognitive performance. While positive mood states were found to be related to increased processing speed, negative mood states were associated with higher processing accuracy in cognitive task performance. This implies that posture may affect the aforementioned sub-aspects of cognitive performance via mood states. Additionally, most studies on posture effects rely on explicit posture manipulation. With that in mind, our research explores the effects of implicitly manipulated postures on processing speed and accuracy and whether these effects are mediated by general mood. The results revealed that subjects in our sample (N = 82, M = 23.09years) who adopted an upright posture showed a more positive general mood (d = 0.50) and higher processing speed (d = 0.42) compared to those in stooped postures. Surprisingly, no differences in processing accuracy were found. There was no evidence of the proposed mediation in our data.

Sitting in Judgment: How Body Posture Influences Deception Detection and Gazing Behavior

Body postures can affect how we process and attend to information. Here, a novel effect of adopting an open or closed posture on the ability to detect deception was investigated. It was hypothesized that the posture adopted by judges would affect their social acuity, resulting in differences in the detection of nonverbal behavior (i.e., microexpression recognition) and the discrimination of deceptive and truthful statements. In Study 1, adopting an open posture produced higher accuracy for detecting naturalistic lies, but no difference was observed in the recognition of brief facial expressions as compared to adopting a closed posture; trait empathy was found to have an additive effect on posture, with more empathic judges having higher deception detection scores. In Study 2, with the use of an eye-tracker, posture effects on gazing behavior when judging both low-stakes and high-stakes lies were measured. Sitting in an open posture reduced judges’ average dwell times looking at senders, and in particular, the amount and length of time they focused on their hands. The findings suggest that simply shifting posture can impact judges’ attention to visual information and veracity judgments (M_g = 0.40, 95% CI (0.03, 0.78)).

High Fives: Effekte auf psychophysiologische Parameter und sportliche Leistung

Zusammenfassung. High- und Low-Fives stellen im Sport verbreitete aber unerforschte Phänomene dar. Ziel der Studie ist es, den bislang unklaren Einfluss auf psychophysiologische, soziale und leistungsrelevante Parameter zu untersuchen. In einem Innersubjektdesign nahmen 23 tischtennisaffine Dyaden teil. Vor und nach den Bewegungsmanipulationen (High-Fives alleine; High-Fives mit Partner_in; Low-Fives alleine; Low-Fives mit Partner_in; Kontrollbedingung) gaben Versuchspersonen Auskunft über Motivation, Macht, Affekt und wahrgenommene Nähe zum/zur Partner_in. Ebenfalls gaben sie Speichel zur Erfassung von Cortisol ab. Anschließend wurde die Aufschlagleistung im Tischtennis erhoben. Ergebnisse zeigten weder Unterschiede in der Veränderung der psychophysiologischen Parameter noch in der Leistung zwischen den Bedingungen. Lediglich die wahrgenommene Nähe stieg in den Bedingungen mit Partner_in an. Die Ergebnisse widersprechen den Theorien des Embodiments, was hinsichtlich der unnatürlichen Bewegungsausführung diskutiert wird. Allerdings sind unsere Ergebnisse im Einklang mit Theorien über die Funktionen von Berührungen und zeigen erstmalig für den sportlichen Kontext, dass High- und Low-Fives einen positiven Effekt auf soziale Strukturen haben.

Saving Science Through Replication Studies

The scientific enterprise has long been based on the presumption of replication, although scientists have recently become aware of various corruptions of the enterprise that have hurt replicability. In this article, we begin by considering three illustrations of research paradigms that have all been subject to intense scrutiny through replications and theoretical concerns. The three paradigms are one for which the corpus of research points to a real finding, one for which the corpus of research points to a significantly attenuated effect, and one for which the debate is ongoing. We then discuss what scientists can learn-and how science can be improved-through replications more generally. From there, we discuss what we believe needs to be done to improve scientific inquiry with regard to replication moving forward. Finally, we conclude by providing readers with several different approaches to replication and how these approaches progress science. The approaches discussed include multilab replications of many effects, multilab replications of specific effects, adversarial collaborations, and stand-alone applications.

Discrepancies Between Explicit Feelings of Power and Implicit Power Motives Are Related to Anxiety in Women With Anorexia Nervosa

Background

Several studies identified low subjective feelings of power in women with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, little is known about implicit power motives and the discrepancy between explicit feelings of power and implicit power motives in AN.

Aim

The study investigated the discrepancy between explicit feelings of power and implicit power motives and its relationship to anxiety in patients with AN.

Method

Fifty-three outpatients and inpatients with AN and 48 participants without AN were compared regarding subjective feelings of power and anxiety. Explicit power [investigated with the Personal Sense of Power Scale (trait focus) and a visual analog scale (state focus)], implicit power motives [investigated with the Multi-Motive Grid (MMG)] and trait anxiety [measured with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)], were assessed.

Results

Explicit feelings of power (state and trait level) were lower in patients with AN compared to non-AN participants. No differences in implicit power motives were found when comparing the groups against each other. However, looking at the groups separately, women with AN had similar levels of implicit fear of losing power and hope for power, whereas woman without AN had significantly lower fear of losing power than hope for power. Focusing on discrepancies between powerful feelings and power motives, results were mixed, depending on the subscale of the MMG. Lastly, discrepancies between implicit power motives and explicit feelings of power were positively correlated with trait anxiety in AN patients.

Conclusion

These findings underline that individuals with AN display significantly lower explicit feelings of power, however, they show similar implicit power motives compared to individuals without AN. The discrepancy between explicit feelings of power and implicit power motives is related to anxiety in AN and may represent a vulnerability factor to illness maintenance.

Powerful postures do not lead to risky behaviors

Recent research has found that a specific manipulation of body postures can influence psychological states associated with power, including an individual’s feeling of power and risk-taking tendency, but the results vary. The purpose of this study is to replicate previous studies. A pilot experiment examined the validity of 10 postures extracted from multiple former studies. Only 4 postures were consistent with former studies. Experiment 1 replicates the study conducted by Carney, Cuddy, and Yap ( 2010 ). The results revealed that posture manipulations did not affect the participants’ risk-taking tendency. Experiment 2 is a preregistered experiment to replicate the study of Carney et al. ( 2010 ). Different from Experiment 1, data were analyzed with a Bayesian approach. The results of the former study again failed to be replicated, which indicates that the posture manipulations could not yield any effect on both power feelings and individuals’ risk-taking tendency. Thus, we concluded that (a) holding a specific series of body posture perceived as high or low power does not affect individuals’ feeling of power, and (b) holding a specific series of body posture perceived as high or low power does not affect individuals’ risk-taking tendency.

PROXÊMICA E COMUNICAÇÃO NÃO VERBAL NA INTERAÇÃO EM SALA DE AULA

RESUMO Este artigo relata um estudo realizado sobre a interação professor-aluno em uma escola pública dos anos iniciais, na cidade de Santiago, Chile. O estudo realizou uma análise quantitativa dos quadros das imagens capturadas por uma minicâmera montada em óculos de um grupo de 18 estudantes. Os quadros selecionados foram os que a professora aparece no campo visual dos alunos. A análise foi desenvolvida a partir do conceito de proxêmica e os resultados mostram que há momentos em que a professora da sala de aula interage com os alunos em um nível mais próximo e, em outros, há um distanciamento maior. Além disso, foi possível identificar diferenças entre meninos e meninas quanto aos padrões proxêmicos de envolvimento visual na interação. Os resultados deste estudo sinalizam novos sentidos para a análise da interação professor-aluno com foco em aspectos não verbais na construção das relações de ensino e aprendizagem.

Using bodily postures to reduce anxiety and improve interoception: A comparison between powerful and neutral poses

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown that anxiety syndromes are highly prevalent among university students. Effective treatments are needed to reduce the burden of anxiety in this population. Powerful postures have been found to impact affective states, as well as interoception (i.e. the ability to perceive inner bodily signals). However, no previous study has compared the effects of powerful- and neutral postures in regards to anxiety and interoceptive ability.

METHODS

The first part of the study measured the single-session effect of adopting powerful- vs. neutral postures on students' (n = 57) interoceptive ability and state anxiety. The second part of the study measured the effect of adopting powerful or neutral postures twice daily for two weeks, on individuals' interoceptive ability and trait anxiety.

RESULTS

State anxiety decreased in both conditions whereas interoceptive accuracy only increased in the power posing condition after a single session. Interoceptive accuracy increased in both groups after two weeks of training.

LIMITATIONS

The study included no comparison to a condition where individuals adopted their natural (i.e. usual) bodily posture.

CONCLUSIONS

Embodiment interventions that include elements of adopting an open or expansive bodily posture whilst maintaining a self-focus, can help to reduce state anxiety and improve interoceptive accuracy in student populations. Power posing does not seem to be superior to holding a neutral posture to improve interoceptive accuracy or anxiety. One reason therefore could be that both conditions include the manipulation of self-focus and a postural change that diverges from individuals' normal posture.

Using bodily postures in the treatment of anorexia nervosa: Effects of power posing on interoception and affective states

OBJECTIVE

Power posing involves the adoption of an expansive bodily posture. This study examined whether power posing could benefit individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and women with normal weight in regards to interoceptive ability and affective states.

METHOD

Participants included 50 inpatients and outpatients with AN as well as 51 normal-weight women. Interoceptive accuracy (IAcc), measured by the heartbeat tracking task and interoceptive sensibility (IS), measured by confidence ratings, were assessed at baseline, after a single power posing session and after 1 week of daily training. Also, the short-term effects of power posing on subjective feelings of dominance, pleasantness, and arousal were investigated.

RESULTS

Both groups increased in their IAcc after one power posing session. Also, there was a significant main effect of time on feelings of dominance and pleasantness in the short-term. Women with AN displayed lower levels of IS, dominance, and pleasantness as well as higher levels of arousal than women without AN.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that power posing has the potential to increase IAcc, subjective feelings of power and pleasant affect in the short-term. Further research should investigate which mechanisms foster the effectiveness of this intervention to tailor it to the needs of women with AN.

Power posing for paranoia: A double-blind randomised controlled experimental test using virtual reality

Paranoia is theorised to build upon feelings of inferior social rank. Power posing has been shown to increase feelings of power, and hence could reduce paranoia. One hundred participants with current paranoia and 50 individuals without paranoia were recruited. Using a double-blind randomised controlled experimental design, participants twice held powerful or neutral postures before entering neutral virtual reality social environments. In the paranoid sample, those who held a powerful pose did not significantly increase in feelings of power by the end of testing in comparison to controls (group difference = 0.67, C.I. = -1.12; 1.46; p = 0.098), or decrease in paranoia (group difference = -0.23, C.I. = -1.17; 0.72; p = 0.634). In the non-paranoid sample, there was a small significant increase in powerful feelings by the end of testing in the powerful group (group difference = 1.13, C.I. = 0.23; 2.02; p = 0.013), but no significant decrease in paranoia (group difference = -0.71, C.I. = -2.16; 0.74; p = 0.338). Paranoia status was not a modifier on the relationship between condition and feelings of power. We conclude that power posing results in only very small changes in self-reported feelings of power and has no subsequent effect on paranoia.

Expansive and Contractive Postures and Movement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Motor Displays on Affective and Behavioral Responses

This review and meta-analysis explores the experimental effects of expansive and contractive motor displays on affective, hormonal, and behavioral responses. Experimental studies were located through systematic literature searches. Studies had to manipulate motor displays to either expansive or contractive displays and investigate the effect of the displays on affect, hormones, or overt behavior. Meta-analyses were conducted to determine the pooled, standardized mean differences between the effects of motor displays on affective, hormonal, and behavioral responses. From 5,819 unique records, 73 relevant studies were identified. Robust differences between expansive and contractive displays emerged for affective responses and overt behavioral responses across contexts, type of manipulation, and methods of measurement. The results suggest that the effects are driven by the absence of contractive motor displays (contractive vs. neutral displays: Hedges's g = 0.45) rather than the presence of expansive displays (expansive vs. neutral displays: g = 0.06). The findings stand as a corrective to previous research, as they indicate that it is the absence of contractive displays rather than the presence of expansive displays that alters affective and behavioral responding. Future research should include neutral control groups, use different methods to assess hormonal change, and investigate these effects in the context of ideographic goals.

Reproducible research into human chemical communication by cues and pheromones: learning from psychology's renaissance

Despite the lack of evidence that the 'putative human pheromones' androstadienone and estratetraenol ever were pheromones, almost 60 studies have claimed 'significant' results. These are quite possibly false positives and can be best seen as potential examples of the 'reproducibility crisis', sadly common in the rest of the life and biomedical sciences, which has many instances of whole fields based on false positives. Experiments on the effects of olfactory cues on human behaviour are also at risk of false positives because they look for subtle effects but use small sample sizes. Research on human chemical communication, much of it falling within psychology, would benefit from vigorously adopting the proposals made by psychologists to enable better, more reliable science, with an emphasis on enhancing reproducibility. A key change is the adoption of study pre-registration and/or Registered Reports which will also reduce publication bias. As we are mammals, and chemical communication is important to other mammals, it is likely that chemical cues are important in our behaviour and that humans may have pheromones, but new approaches will be needed to reliably demonstrate them. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.

Powerful and confident children through expansive body postures? A preregistered study of fourth graders

Do expansive body postures increase self-esteem in children? Power posing is a popular but also controversial topic. Still, there has been no research on the possible effects in children. To investigate the influence of power posing in children, 108 German fourth graders were randomly assigned to a high versus a low power posing group. Self-esteem was self-reported; feelings were assessed indirectly. There was an effect of power posing on self-reported global and school self-esteem. Furthermore, children who had performed high power poses in comparison with those who had performed low power poses mentioned more positive feelings, higher power feelings, and a more positive student–teacher relationship. Results are interpreted with regard to the context and the cultural dependency of the power posing effect. Implications for school practice are addressed.

The alchemy of confirmation bias transmutes expectations into bilingual advantages: A tale of two new meta-analyses

Five recent meta-analyses of the bilingual advantage in executive functioning hypothesis have converged on the outcome that the mean effect size is very small and that the incidence of statistically significant bilingual advantages is very low (about 15% of all comparisons). Those analyses that used the PET-PEESE method to correct for publication bias show mean effect sizes that are not different from zero and sometimes negative. In contrast, van den Noort and colleagues provide a sixth review of 46 studies published before October 31, 2018, that appears to produce a very different outcome, namely that more than half the studies yield clear support for the bilingual advantage hypothesis. We show that the deviance is due in part to search terms that yielded far fewer relevant studies, but more importantly to a subjective method of evaluating the results of each study that enables confirmation biases on the part of study authors and meta-analysts to substantially distort the objective pattern of results. A seventh meta-analysis, by Armstrong and colleagues, reports significant bilingual advantages of g = 0.48 for 32 samples using Simon and Stroop colour–word interference tasks that tested older adults. However, all effects were entered into the funnel plots as positive even though many were negative (bilingual disadvantages). This and other striking anomalies are consistent with the view that confirmation bias can suspend critical judgement and promulgate errors. Meta-analyses that use preregistration and a many-labs collaboration can better control for both publication and experimenter biases.

Detecting Evidential Value and p-Hacking With the p-Curve Tool

Abstract. Simonsohn, Nelson, and Simmons (2014a) proposed p-curve – the distribution of statistically significant p-values for a set of studies – as a tool to assess the evidential value of these studies. They argued that, whereas right-skewed p-curves indicate true underlying effects, left-skewed p-curves indicate selective reporting of significant results when there is no true effect (“ p-hacking”). We first review previous research showing that, in contrast to the first claim, null effects may produce right-skewed p-curves under some conditions. We then question the second claim by showing that not only selective reporting but also selective nonreporting of significant results due to a significant outcome of a more popular alternative test of the same hypothesis may produce left-skewed p-curves, even if all studies reflect true effects. Hence, just as right-skewed p-curves do not necessarily imply evidential value, left-skewed p-curves do not necessarily imply p-hacking and absence of true effects in the studies involved.

The influence of power posing on cardiac vagal activity

The effects of power posing on hormonal reactions such as testosterone and cortisol have been widely investigated, however, its effects on the autonomic nervous system are rather unknown. Consequently, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of power posing on cardiac vagal activity (CVA), as indexed by heart rate variability. It was hypothesized that high power poses (HPP) would increase CVA, whereas low power poses (LPP) would decrease CVA, given power posing is expected to decrease stress. Participants (N = 56) performed a total of four power poses, a combination of two power conditions (high vs. low) and two body positions (sitting vs. standing) for 1 min each, in a randomized order. In addition, for each power pose participants were given a role description. Contrary to our hypothesis, CVA decreased significantly during HPP in comparison to the resting measures before and after HPP, and CVA did not change during LPP. Moreover, while holding the power pose, CVA was higher in the LPP than in the HPP condition. Regarding subjective measures our hypotheses were confirmed, felt power was significantly higher after HPP than after LPP. Additionally, perceived stress was higher after LPP than after HPP. Taken together, these results suggest that the immediate impact of PP on the autonomic nervous system is more likely to influence a higher state of activation within the body instead of increasing resources to cope with stress as indexed by CVA, which may be seen only on a more long-term basis.

Repeatedly adopting power postures does not affect hormonal correlates of dominance and affiliative behavior

Background

Adopting expansive vs. constrictive postures related to high vs. low levels of social power has been suggested to induce changes in testosterone and cortisol levels, and thereby to mimic hormonal correlates of dominance behavior. However, these findings have been challenged by several non-replications recently. Despite this growing body of evidence that does not support posture effects on hormone levels, the question remains as to whether repeatedly holding postures over time and/or assessing hormonal responses at different time points would yield different outcomes. The current study assesses these methodological characteristics as possible reasons for previous null-findings. Additionally, it investigates for the first time whether expansive and constrictive postures impact progesterone levels, a suggested correlate of affiliative motives and behavior. By testing the effects of repeated but short posture manipulations in between the blocks of a social task while using a cover story, it further fulfills the conditions previously raised as potentially necessary for the effects to occur.

Methods

A total of 82 male participants repeatedly adopted an expansive or constrictive posture for 2 min in between blocks of a task that consisted in categorizing faces based on first impressions. Saliva samples were taken at two different time points in a time window in which hormonal responses to stress, competition and other manipulations are known to be strongest.

Results

Neither testosterone and cortisol levels linked to dominance behaviors, nor progesterone levels related to affiliative tendencies, responded differently to adopting expansive as opposed to constrictive postures. The present results suggest that even repeated power posing in a context where social stimuli are task-relevant does not elicit changes in hormone levels.

Improving interoceptive ability through the practice of power posing: A pilot study

Interoception refers to the detection and perception of signals from the inner body. Deficits in this domain have been linked to psychopathologies, prompting the search for strategies to improve this ability. Preliminary studies have shown that interoception could be enhanced through the manipulation of subjective feelings of power. We tested the effects of adopting powerful postures on different facets of interoception. Firstly, we measured the impact of a single power posing session on interoceptive ability in 41 healthy females. Then, the same participants were randomly assigned to two conditions (daily power posing practice vs. no practice). After one week the conditions alternated. Interoceptive accuracy, measured by the heartbeat tracking task, interoceptive sensibility, measured by the Body Perception Questionnaire (BPQ) and confidence ratings, as well as subjective feelings of power were assessed at baseline, after a single power posing session and after one week of training. A single power posing session significantly increased individuals' interoceptive accuracy. Also, power posing reduced individuals' scores on the BPQ after one week of daily practice and increased subjective feelings of power after one session and one week of daily practice. These findings suggest that adopting powerful postures has the potential to increase interoceptive accuracy, as well as subjective feelings of power, and to reduce interoceptive sensibility, measured by questionnaire.

Influence of Sex and Body Language on Patient Perceptions of Anesthesiologists

Editor’s Perspective

What We Know about This Topic

What This Article Tells Us That Is New

Background

Patient perception of physician competence is important. The role of body language and physician sex on patient perceptions has not been investigated. The authors hypothesized that patients perceive anesthesiologists displaying confident body language as more competent and that patients would prefer male anesthesiologists.

Methods

Two hundred adult patients presenting to the Preanesthesia Evaluation and Testing Center at the University of Virginia Health System were recruited to participate using consecutive sampling. Patients viewed four 90-s videos in random order. Each video featured a male or female actor displaying confident, high-power poses or unconfident, low-power poses. Each actor recited the same script describing general anesthesia. Patients were randomized (100 per group) to view one of two sets of videos to account for any actor preferences. Participants ranked each actor anesthesiologist on perceived confidence, intelligence, and likelihood of choosing that anesthesiologist to care for their family member. Participants also chose the one actor anesthesiologist who seemed most like a leader.

Results

Two hundred patients watched the videos and completed the questionnaire. Actor anesthesiologists displaying confident, high-power body language had greater odds of being ranked as more confident (odds ratio, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.76 to 2.92; P < 0.0001), more intelligent (odds ratio, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.18; P < 0.0001), more likely chosen to care for one’s family member (odds ratio, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.82 to 3.02; P < 0.0001), and more likely to be considered a leader (odds ratio, 2.60; 95% CI, 1.86 to 3.65; P < 0.0001). Actor anesthesiologist sex was not associated with ranking for any response measures.

Conclusions

Patients perceive anesthesiologists displaying confident body language as more confident, more intelligent, more like a leader, and are more likely to choose that anesthesiologist to care for their family member. Differences in patient perceptions based on sex of the anesthesiologist were not detected.

Empowering Mimicry: Female Leader Role Models Empower Women in Leadership Tasks Through Body Posture Mimicry

In two studies we investigated the behavioral process through which visible female leader role models empower women in leadership tasks. We proposed that women tend to mimic the powerful (open) body postures of successful female role models, thus leading to more empowered behavior and better performance on a challenging leadership task, a process we called empowering mimicry. In Study 1, we experimentally manipulated the body posture of the male and female role models and showed that 86 Swiss college women mimicked the body posture of the female (ingroup) but not the male (outgroup) role model, thus leading to more empowered behavior and better performance on a public speaking task. In Study 2, we investigated the boundary conditions of this process and showed that empowering mimicry does not extend to exposures to non-famous female models among 50 Swiss college women. These findings suggest that nonverbal mimicry is one important mechanism through which female leader role models inspire women performing a challenging leadership task. From a practice perspective, our research underscores the importance of female leaders' visibility because visibility can drive other women's advancement in leadership by affording women the opportunity to mimic and be empowered by successful female role models.

Does size matter? Spacious car cockpits may increase the probability of parking violations

Cockpit design is a core area of human factors and ergonomics (HF/E). Ideally, good design compensates for human capacity limitations by distributing task requirements over human and interface to improve safety and performance. Recent empirical findings suggest that the mere spatial layout of car cockpits may influence driver behaviour, expanding current views on HF/E in cockpit design. To assess the reliability of findings showing that an expansive driver seat space predicts parking violations, we replicated an original field study in a geographically and socio-culturally different location and included an additional covariate. After controlling for car length, brand status, and car price, driver seat space remained a positive predictor of illegal parking. This suggests that the spatial design of vehicle cockpits may indeed have an influence on driver behaviour and may therefore be a relevant dimension to be included in research and applications of HF/E in cockpit design. Practitioner summary: In car cockpit design, ergonomists typically focus on optimising human-machine interfaces to improve traffic safety. We replicate evidence showing that increasing physical space surrounding the driver relates to an increased probability of parking violations. This suggests that spatial design should be added to the ergonomist's toolbox for reducing traffic violations.

Is “Behavior” the Problem?

Doliński (2018, this issue) deplores the near absence of “real behavior” in social and personality studies and attributes to that omission several problems in our research. We concur in the depiction of problems but take issue with the diagnosis. In a sense, most we ever study is behavior (the definition of the concept is quite broad). The problems are better understood as those of validity, generalizability and consequentiality in contemporary social/personality research and they stem from the “double whammy” of (occasionally unwarranted) IRB restrictions on social/personality research and unrealistic perfectionism that constrain our efforts.

Can Tai Chi and Qigong Postures Shape Our Mood? Toward an Embodied Cognition Framework for Mind-Body Research

Dynamic and static body postures are a defining characteristic of mind-body practices such as Tai Chi and Qigong (TCQ). A growing body of evidence supports the hypothesis that TCQ may be beneficial for psychological health, including management and prevention of depression and anxiety. Although a variety of causal factors have been identified as potential mediators of such health benefits, physical posture, despite its visible prominence, has been largely overlooked. We hypothesize that body posture while standing and/or moving may be a key therapeutic element mediating the influence of TCQ on psychological health. In the present paper, we summarize existing experimental and observational evidence that suggests a bi-directional relationship between body posture and mental states. Drawing from embodied cognitive science, we provide a theoretical framework for further investigation into this interrelationship. We discuss the challenges involved in such an investigation and propose suggestions for future studies. Despite theoretical and practical challenges, we propose that the role of posture in mind-body exercises such as TCQ should be considered in future research.

Expand your body when you look at yourself: The role of the posture in a mirror exposure task

Mirror exposure (ME) is one of the main components of the treatment of patients with eating disorders symptomatology and it has shown its effectiveness in improving several outcomes (e.g., body dissatisfaction). However, the study as to what body posture should be adopted to maximize its effectiveness has been neglected. From embodied cognition and emotion theories, the adoption of an expansive (vs. contractive) body posture has been associated with positive changes in cognitive and emotional responses. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of adopting an expansive (vs. contractive) posture before an ME task on body-related emotions and cognitions, as well as to analyze the possible moderator and mediator variables of these relationships. The sample was composed of 68 women (age: M = 21.74, SD = 3.12) with high scores on body dissatisfaction. Participants were randomly assigned to the expansive or contractive condition, where the openness of the arms/legs and the back position were manipulated. Posture was monitored by an electronic device and participants filled out several self-reported measures. ANCOVAs, moderation, mediation, and moderated mediated analyses were performed. Results showed that women in the expansive condition showed higher positive emotions after the ME. Moreover, exploratory analyses showed that adopting an expansive posture improved positive emotions, leading to improvements in negative emotions, body image satisfaction, and appraisal of the person’s own body. Psychological interventions should explore the value of holding an expansive posture before the ME in women with body dissatisfaction.

Embodied Cognition and the Direct Induction of Affect as a Compliment to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

We make the case for the possible integration of affect experience induced via embodiment techniques with CBT for the treatment of emotional disorders in clinical settings. Theoretically we propose a possible integration of cognitive behavioural theory, neuroscience, embodied cognition and important processes of client change outcomes such as the therapeutic alliance to enhance client outcomes. We draw from evidence of bidirectional effects between embodiment modes of bottom-up (sensory-motor simulations giving rise to important basis of knowledge) and top-down (abstract mental representations of knowledge) processes such as CBT in psychotherapy. The paper first describes the dominance and success of CBT for the treatment of a wide range of clinical disorders. Some limitations of CBT, particularly for depression are also outlined. There is a growing body of evidence for the added value of experiential affect-focused interventions combined with CBT. Evidence for the embodied model of cognition and emotion is reviewed. Advantages of embodiment is highlighted as a complimentary process model to deepen the intensity and valence of affective experience. It is suggested that an integrated embodiment approach with CBT enhances outcomes across a wide range of emotional disorders. A description of our embodiment method integrated with CBT for inducing affective experience, emotional regulation, acceptance of unwanted emotions and emotional mastery is given. Finally, the paper highlights the importance of the therapeutic alliance as a critical component of the change process. The paper ends with a case study highlighting some clinical strategies that may aid the therapist to integrate embodiment techniques in CBT that can further explore in future research on affective experience in CBT for a wider range of clinical disorders.

A randomized controlled study of power posing before public speaking exposure for social anxiety disorder: No evidence for augmentative effects

This manuscript details a randomized controlled study designed to test the efficacy of power posing (i.e., briefly holding postures associated with dominance and power) as an augmentative strategy for exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Seventy-three individuals diagnosed with SAD were assigned to one of three conditions: power posing, submissive posing, or rest (no posing) prior to participating in an exposure therapy session. Participants were assessed for between-group differences in pre- and post-manipulation salivary hormone levels, within-session subjective experiences of fear, and pre- and 1-week post-treatment SAD severity outcome measures. Though the intervention resulted in decreased SAD symptom severity one week later, analyses revealed no significant between-group differences on any tested variables. Accordingly, this study provides no evidence to suggest that power posing impacts hormone levels or exposure therapy outcomes.

Twelve tips for effective body language for medical educators

BACKGROUND

A significant proportion of human communication is nonverbal. Although the fields of business and psychology have significant literature on effectively using body language in a variety of situations, there is limited literature on effective body language for medical educators.

AIM

To provide 12 tips to highlight effective body language strategies and techniques for medical educators.

METHOD

The tips provided are based on our experiences and reflections as clinician-educators and the available literature.

RESULTS

The 12 tips presented offer specific strategies to engage learners, balance learner participation, and bring energy and passion to teaching.

CONCLUSIONS

Medical educators seeking to maximize their effectiveness would benefit from an understanding of how body language affects a learning environment and how body language techniques can be used to engage audiences, maintain attention, control challenging learners, and convey passion for a topic. Understanding and using body language effectively is an important instructional skill.

Power Poseur

Strong claims have been made that power poses can significantly improve one’s life. Starting from an evolutionary perspective, we reason that expansive poses will have no impact in more realistic situations, as in the presence of an interaction partner or when participants are aware of what the pose should accomplish. Across four dyadic studies including both commonly used outcomes and a negotiation task (which could actually have direct benefits for one’s life), we find nearly uniform null effects of holding expansive poses, despite checks confirming the success of the manipulation. For example, in two of the studies, participants watched a popular TED talk on power poses, held an expansive pose, and then completed a negotiation in the presence of a partner, as might happen in real life. We argue that researchers should stop recommending power poses as an empirically supported strategy for improving one’s life.