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Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are | Amy Cuddy | TED
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Anyone interested in self-improvement, confidence building, or understanding the psychological impact of body language should watch this talk.
TL;DR
Amy Cuddy's research suggests that adopting powerful body language, even faking it, can influence your mindset, making you feel more confident and assertive. This "power posing" can also impact your hormonal levels, potentially leading to better outcomes in various life situations.
Key Takeaways
- Our body language, beyond communicating to others, also influences our own thoughts, feelings, and even physiology.
- Adopting expansive, 'high-power' poses for just two minutes can increase feelings of confidence and willingness to take risks.
- Studies show that judgments based on brief nonverbal cues can predict significant life outcomes, like hiring decisions or election results.
- The nonverbal expressions of power, like expanding one's space, are universal across species and even present in congenitally blind individuals.
- Conversely, 'low-power' poses involve closing oneself off and making oneself smaller, often adopted by those feeling less powerful.
- Research suggests that faking powerful body language can lead to genuine feelings of power and increased assertiveness.
- Physiological markers of power include higher testosterone (dominance) and lower cortisol (stress response), which can be influenced by posture.
- Gender differences in power poses and their impact on participation are observed, with women historically adopting less powerful stances.
In This Video
- 00:16The Two-Minute Posture Hack
Try changing your posture for two minutes. It's a free, no-tech life hack that could change your life.
- 01:05Body Language and Social Judgments
We're fascinated by others' body language and make quick judgments. These judgments impact significant life outcomes like hiring and dating.
- 03:29The Unseen Audience: Ourselves
We often forget that our own nonverbals influence our thoughts, feelings, and physiology, not just how others perceive us.
- 04:00Power Poses: Expanding and Dominating
Expressions of power involve expanding, taking up space, and opening up. This is seen across the animal kingdom and in humans.
- 05:00Powerless Poses: Closing and Shrinking
When feeling powerless, we do the opposite: close up, make ourselves small, and avoid occupying space.
- 06:10Gender and Power Dynamics
Women tend to exhibit less powerful nonverbals and feel less powerful. This impacts participation and grades in academic settings.
- 07:02Can We Fake Power Poses?
The research question: Can faking powerful nonverbals lead to actually feeling more powerful and behavioral changes?
- 08:03Body Influences Mind: Hormonal Changes
Powerful people have high testosterone and low cortisol. Changing posture can influence these hormones, affecting confidence and stress response.
Questions & Answers
What is the free life hack Amy Cuddy offers?
The free life hack is to change your posture for two minutes to potentially change the way your life unfolds.
How does body language affect our judgments of others?
Social scientists have found that body language significantly influences judgments, which can predict life outcomes like hiring, promotions, and even election results.
What are the non-verbal expressions of power and dominance?
Expressions of power involve expanding and taking up space, making yourself bigger, which is observed across the animal kingdom and in humans.
What is the opposite of a powerful body posture?
The opposite is closing up, wrapping yourself up, and making yourself small, which is associated with feeling powerless.
Can faking a powerful posture change how we feel?
Yes, research suggests that faking a powerful posture for a short time can lead to actually feeling more powerful and confident.
How do hormones relate to power and stress?
Powerful individuals tend to have high testosterone (dominance hormone) and low cortisol (stress hormone), indicating assertiveness without high stress reactivity.
Key Terms
- Nonverbals — Social scientists use 'nonverbals' as a term for body language, encompassing gestures, posture, and facial expressions.
- Pride expression — A universal non-verbal expression of power and winning, characterized by arms raised in a V-shape and a slightly lifted chin.
- Testosterone — A hormone associated with dominance and assertiveness, often found in higher levels in powerful individuals.
- Cortisol — A hormone related to stress, which tends to be lower in individuals who feel powerful and are less reactive to stress.