Power posing

Amy Cuddy demonstrating her theory of "power posing" with a photo of the comic-book superhero Wonder Woman

Power posing is a controversial self-improvement technique or "life hack" in which people stand in a posture that they mentally associate with being powerful, in the hope of feeling more confident and behaving more assertively. Though the underlying science is disputed, its promoters continue to argue that people can foster positive life changes simply by assuming a "powerful" or "expansive" posture for a few minutes before an interaction in which confidence is needed. One popular image of the technique in practice is that of candidates "lock[ing] themselves in bathroom stalls before job interviews to make victory V's with their arms."[1]

Power posing was first suggested in a 2010 paper by Dana R. Carney, Amy Cuddy, and Andy Yap in the journal Psychological Science,[2] and came to prominence through a popular TED talk by Cuddy in 2012.[3] However, in 2015 several researchers began reporting that the effect could not be replicated,[4][5][6] and, in 2016, Carney issued a statement abandoning the theory.[7] Cuddy, however, continued her research,[8][1] claiming to have evidence that posture feedback can at least make people feel more powerful.[9][10][11] Today, power posing is often cited as an example of the replication crisis in the sciences.[12]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NYT_2017_Cuddy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CarneyCuddyYap2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cuddy, Amy (June 2012). "Your body language may shape who you are". TED. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ranehill_2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simonsohn_Simmons_2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ King, Tracy (1 May 2018). "Sajid Javid and the strange science behind power poses". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Carney_nd_Myposition was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Singal Dahl Amy Cuddy's Response was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cuddy, Amy J. C.; Schultz, S. Jack; Fosse, Nathan E. (2 March 2018). "P-Curving a More Comprehensive Body of Research on Postural Feedback Reveals Clear Evidential Value for Power-Posing Effects: Reply to Simmons and Simonsohn (2017)". Psychological Science. 29 (4): 656–666. doi:10.1177/0956797617746749. PMID 29498906. S2CID 3675226.
  10. ^ Elsesser, Kim (3 April 2018). "Power Posing Is Back: Amy Cuddy Successfully Refutes Criticism". Forbes. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  11. ^ Young, Emma (28 March 2018). "54-study analysis says power posing does affect people's emotions and is worth researching further". British Psychological Society Research Digest. Retrieved 14 July 2019.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Aschwanden, Christine (24 March 2016). "Failure is moving science forward". FiveThirtyEight.