A Negative Effect of a Contractive Pose Is Not Evidence for the Positive Effect of an Expansive Pose: Commentary on Cuddy, Schultz, and Fosse (2018)
8 Pages Posted: 12 Jul 2018
Date Written: June 19, 2018
Abstract
Cuddy, Schultz, and Fosse (2018) present p-curve analyses of the literature on postural feedback and conclude that their results are supportive of the inference that expansive poses (i.e., power poses) have positive effects on feelings of power and emotional/affective states. These inferences are incorrect because most of the examined studies cannot distinguish between the effects of an expansive pose and the effects of a contractive pose. Further, the few studies that can speak to these two effects suggest that an overall effect of posture is primarily due to the negative effects of a contractive pose (e.g., slouching) and not the positive effect of an expansive pose.
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