There is science involved here: Carney et al. (2010) have shown that dominant poses can decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol by 25 per cent and increase the confidence-boosting testosterone by 19 per cent! If you have your head down and shoulders slumped, your brain chemistry changes for the worse. Without going into the science too much, I thought it would be helpful to give some examples of body language cues and what effects they can have on your mind.
Want to raise testosterone?
Power poses: e.g. Stand in front of a mirror with your arms raised high (like you're celebrating winning a race) and look at your reflection for 2 minutes. Anything involving open limbs and expansive gestures, where you raise your head and expose your throat. Think Cristiano Ronaldo waiting to take a free kick or a penalty. Powerful poses take up more space, so spread your body and open up the arms or legs. When you dominate the space, your mind gets the message.
Want to lower your heart rate?
The vagus nerve controls heart rate and several physiological triggers can slow it down:
- Splash cold water on face.
- Massage your neck on one side.
- Take really deep breaths from your belly.
Want more willpower?
Tensing up your muscles can help increase your willpower. Hung and Labroo (2011) found that when people clench their fists or tense their their muscles they were better able to resist tempting food, take unpleasant medicines, withstand pain and concentrate on perplexing information.
Want to feel happier?
Smiling can make you happy. Strack et al. (1988) had participants either hold a pen between their lips or between their top lip and their nose. The first condition activates the muscles responsible for smiling (try it), while the second activates frowning muscles. Participants whose smiling muscles were activated rated cartoons as funnier than others whose smiling muscles weren’t activated. So, forcing a smile really does make us see the world in a better light.
Want to persist on difficult problems?
If you’re stuck on a problem which needs persistence then try crossing your arms. Friedman and Elliot (2008) found participants who were told to keep their arms crossed worked almost twice as long on difficult anagrams. This persistence also led to more correct solutions.
Problems Persuading People?
Gesturing can be persuasive. A study by Maricchiolo et al. (2008) found that hand-gestures increased how persuasive a message was. Gestures are most effective in making what you are saying more understandable.
Want to learn quicker?
Gesturing can help us learn too. Cook et al. (2007) found that children who were encouraged to gesture while learning, retained more of what they learnt.
References
Dr Jeremy Dean - PsyBlog.