Power Posing, and What Happens When Research Gets Retested
By Rita Okonkwo · Presence & Delivery
In 2010, a study by Dana Carney, Amy Cuddy and Andy Yap reported that holding an expansive, high-power posture for two minutes raised testosterone, lowered cortisol, and increased both self-reported feelings of power and willingness to take a risk.1 Cuddy's 2012 TED talk on the finding, "Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are," became one of the most-watched TED talks ever, and "power posing" entered nearly every public speaking course that followed.
It is a useful case study for anyone who cares about evidence. The original finding was not fraudulent. What makes it worth telling is what happened next, which is a more honest picture of how science corrects itself than the original headline was.
What the original study did
The 2010 study was small: 42 participants. Each held either two expansive poses (leaning back with feet on a desk, standing with hands planted wide on a table) or two contracted ones (arms folded, legs crossed) for a minute apiece. Saliva samples measured hormones before and after. Participants then had the chance to take a gamble, and rated how powerful and in charge they felt.
The reported results lined up neatly: high-power posers gained testosterone, lost cortisol, gambled more and felt more powerful. A neat story from a small sample is exactly the kind of result that most needs a second look.
What happened when it was retested
In 2015, a team led by Eva Ranehill ran a much larger version of the study, with 200 participants, nearly five times the original sample.2 The poses did increase how powerful people said they felt. They had no effect on testosterone, cortisol or risk-taking.
In 2016, Dana Carney, the original paper's first author, posted a public statement saying she no longer believed the effects were real. Researchers rarely do that about their own best-known finding, and it deserves credit.
In 2017, Joseph Simmons and Uri Simonsohn applied a method called p-curve, which looks at the pattern of results across a body of published studies to judge whether they reflect a real effect or the selective publishing of lucky ones. Across the power-posing studies they examined, the pattern did not support a real effect.3
The reply, and what both sides agree on
Cuddy and colleagues answered in 2018 with a larger p-curve of their own, covering more studies of what they called postural feedback.4 They concluded the evidence does support an effect, and the effect they defended is the narrower one: on how powerful and confident people report feeling. They did not defend the hormone changes.
So the dispute has narrowed to something both sides can live with. Holding an expansive posture may make you feel a little more confident for a short while. The claim that it changes your hormones, and through them your behaviour, is the part that did not hold up.
What survived
The self-report finding is the part worth keeping. People who adopt an open, expansive posture for a short time do tend to say they feel more confident and in control immediately afterwards. That is a modest, plausible effect, and if a few seconds of standing tall before you walk on helps you feel steadier, there is no harm in it.
What did not survive is the dramatic version, and that was the version that spread.
Why this story is worth telling
Because the fair answer to "does power posing work?" is "it may make you feel briefly better, and the more dramatic claims did not replicate." That answer is less exciting than the TED talk, and it is also the true one.
A view of research that only cites studies when they are flattering is marketing with footnotes. Treating a widely believed claim as settled because it is popular is the same error the 93% communication myth makes, from a different direction. The lesson generalises: a single small study with a striking result is a reason to look closer, not a reason to change how you speak.
What we recommend instead
Aim posture at the room, not at your hormones. What the audience sees is easier to reason about than what happens in your bloodstream:
- Plant your feet. Shifting weight and pacing without purpose reads as restlessness, whatever its cause.
- Keep your hands visible and free. Hands clasped, pocketed or gripping a lectern take away the gestures that help both you and your listeners.
- Face the room. Turning towards your slides turns your voice away from the people you are talking to.
If you want a pre-talk ritual, use one that works on the thing that actually spikes before you speak: your breathing. A few slow exhales before you walk on are better supported than two minutes in a superhero stance.
References
- Carney, D. R., Cuddy, A. J. C., & Yap, A. J. (2010). Power posing: brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1363–1368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610383437
- Ranehill, E., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Leiberg, S., Sul, S., & Weber, R. A. (2015). Assessing the robustness of power posing. Psychological Science, 26(5), 653–656. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614553946
- Simmons, J. P., & Simonsohn, U. (2017). Power posing: p-curving the evidence. Psychological Science, 28(5), 687–693. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616658563
- Cuddy, A. J. C., Schultz, S. J., & Fosse, N. E. (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. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617746749