Before we delve into today’s topic, please pay attention to your body posture, specifically how you are sitting or standing right now. Now, compare it with the images below.
Do you make yourself smaller by huddling up? For example, by keeping your legs crossed, hunching your back, or wrapping yourself with both arms? Or do you make yourself bigger by spreading out? Take, for instance, the top row postures in the image above—spreading your legs, stretching your chest forward, and opening up your arms. Now, notice how you feel in relation to how you sit or stand. Do you feel anxious, frustrated, lazy, unmotivated, or impatient when huddling up? Or do you feel comfortable, confident, or positive when spreading out?
The Pride Expressions
When tuning in to the Olympic Games, you would notice that many athletes express their victory and defeat in strikingly similar ways. Victorious athletes often expand themselves, raising their arms and heads to form the iconic “victory pose.” In contrast, defeated athletes tend to bend themselves, with heads looking down, as if they are intentionally making themselves smaller.
To gain deeper insight into why athletes exhibit similar behavior regardless of their cultural backgrounds, researchers Jessica Tracy from the University of British Columbia and David Matsumoto from San Francisco State University collaborated with professional photographers. They sought to find answers to their question during the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, a sister competition of the Olympic Games, with a primary focus on disabled athletes, a significant proportion of whom were born blind.
The Blind Pride
At the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, a remarkable gathering took place with 108 disabled judo competitors representing 37 nations from around the globe. This diverse group included athletes from North Korea, Algeria, and the United States. Among them, 41 individuals had experienced vision loss, while 12 had been blind since birth. During the event, a photographer diligently captured images of the blind athletes, while Jessica and David meticulously recorded the positions of their heads, arms, and bodies.
What they found out was astounding: both sighted and sightless athletes behaved in remarkably similar ways. Winners lifted their heads, smiled, raised their hands wide open, and puffed out their chests, even though they had never seen what a ‘victory pose’ looks like in their lives. Conversely, slumped shoulders, curled backs, and narrow chests were the hallmarks of losers.[1]
Facial Expressions vs Body Languages
To determine whether facial expressions or body language are more effective at conveying a person’s emotions, Alexander Todorov, a Professor of Psychology at Princeton University, and his research team assembled three groups, each consisting of 15 participants. In their experiment, they presented stock photos of individuals depicting six emotional “peaks”: pain, pleasure, victory, defeat, grief, and joy. One group was shown only the facial expressions, another group was shown only the body positions, and the final group was shown both the face and body together.
The findings were remarkable: participants who saw only the face had a 50-50 chance of accurately identifying the emotion, while those who viewed only the body or both the face and body together were significantly more accurate. As a result, the researchers concluded that body cues, rather than facial expressions, play a key role in discerning intense positive and negative emotions. These findings were published in Science on November 30 and were supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (grant number 0823749) [2]
Relationship Between The Mind and The Body
From the aforementioned scenarios, we are all aware of how our body language serves as a means of self-expression. It is widely recognized that our minds have the ability to influence our bodies—when we experience happiness, we naturally tend to expand and occupy more space, whereas in times of stress or sadness, we often make ourselves smaller and huddle up. However, the intriguing question is: can our bodies, in turn, shape our minds?
Motivated by this very question, Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard University, and her primary collaborator, Dana Carney, then at Berkeley, conducted a small experiment with a group of individuals in their laboratory. The participants were divided into two groups, with one group engaging in high-power poses and the other group engaging in low-power poses.
Before the participants assumed any of the poses, saliva samples were collected from them. They were then instructed to perform either high-power poses or low-power poses for a full 2 minutes. Following the completion of their respective poses, the participants were led into a room where the researchers administered a series of questions. During this time, second saliva samples were collected. Finally, the participants were given the chance to engage in a gambling task[3].
The Magic of High Power Poses
What Amy and Doney discovered through their experiment was profound. Participants who assumed the high-power pose exhibited an 86 percent likelihood of gambling, whereas the low-power pose group showed a notable difference at 60 percent.
Analysis of the saliva samples revealed that the high-power pose group experienced a 20 percent increase in testosterone levels, whereas the low-power pose group demonstrated a 10 percent decrease in their testosterone levels[3].
Regarding cortisol, the stress hormone, the high-power pose group exhibited a 25 percent decrease in cortisol levels, whereas the low-power pose group showed a 15 percent increase in their stress hormone levels. Remarkably, all of these changes occurred within a mere 2 minutes of assuming different types of poses [3].
“The Mind Shapes The Body, And The Body Shapes The Mind”
Amy Cuddy
It is truly astounding to discover that a mere two minutes of assuming different types of poses can result in such significant hormonal changes, effectively shaping our brain to be either assertive, confident, and at ease, or insecure and prone to stress-reactivity. This experiment not only highlights the influence of our nonverbal cues on how others perceive and feel about us, but it also underscores their impact on our own self-perception and emotional state. Furthermore, it reinforces the profound truth that not only can our minds influence our bodies, but our bodies also have the power to influence our minds.
Fake It Till You Make It
Building upon our previous discussion, we discovered that the adage “Fake It Till You Make It” carries a profound truth, as exemplified by Amy’s remarkable personal journey. It was her resilience and determination that propelled her towards a successful life, despite the adversities she faced. This theory is further bolstered by her studies on the profound impact of high-power poses on our mindset. Remarkably, just two minutes of assuming high-power poses can induce significant hormonal changes within our minds, leading to increased confidence and positivity.
“Our bodies change our minds and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes”
Ammy Cuddy
So, the next time you find yourself feeling anxious about asking someone out on a date or nervous before a job interview, my advice is simple: fake it. And don’t stop at the point of mere success; continue faking it until you embody it completely. You might argue, “But I don’t want to feel like a fraud.” Well, let me assure you that most of the time, there is no objective truth to begin with. Sometimes, we must create our own truth, especially when it comes to the culmination of our stories, where truth doesn’t always come first. It is at that moment when you have truly become what you once aspired to be.
References
- Yong, E. (2008). Blind Olympic athletes show the universal nature of pride and shame. [online] National Geographic. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2008/08/13/blind-olympic-athletes-show-the-universal-nature-of-pride-and-shame/ [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].
- Kelly, M. (2013). Don’t read my lips! Body language trumps the face for conveying intense emotions. [online] Princeton University. Available at: https://www.princeton.edu/news/2013/01/15/dont-read-my-lips-body-language-trumps-face-conveying-intense-emotions [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].
- Cuddy, A. (2019). Your body language may shape who you are. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].
- Radovanovi, D., Robinson, M. and Lebowitz, S. (2016). 5 power poses that will instantly boost your confidence. [online] Business Insider Singapore. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.sg/5-body-language-tweaks-for-an-instant-confidence-boost-2016-1/?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].
