Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • October 2010
  • Article
  • Psychological Science

Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance

By: Dana R. Carney, Amy J.C. Cuddy and Andy J. Yap
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:6
ShareBar

Abstract

Humans and other animals express power through open, expansive postures and powerlessness through closed, constrictive postures. But can these postures actually cause power? As predicted, results revealed that posing in high-power (vs. low-power) nonverbal displays caused neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: high-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern. In short, posing in powerful displays caused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes—findings that suggest that embodiment extends beyond mere thinking and feeling to physiology and subsequent behavioral choices. That a person can, via a simple two-minute pose, embody power and instantly become more powerful has real-world, actionable implications.

Keywords

Risk and Uncertainty; Nonverbal Communication; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender; Power and Influence

Citation

Carney, Dana R., Amy J.C. Cuddy, and Andy J. Yap. "Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance." Psychological Science 21, no. 10 (October 2010): 1363–1368.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

More from the Authors

    • Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

    Visual Attention to Powerful Postures: People Avert Their Gaze from Nonverbal Dominance Displays

    By: Elise Holland, Elizabeth Baily Wolf, Christine Looser and Amy Cuddy
    • Forthcoming
    • Faculty Research

    Racism, Causal Explanations, and Affirmative Action

    By: Theresa K. Vescio, Amy Cuddy, Faye Crosby and Kevin Weaver
    • December 2015
    • Personality and Individual Differences

    On Wealth and the Diversity of Friendships: High Social Class People around the World Have Fewer International Friends

    By: Maurice H. Yearwood, Amy Cuddy, Nishtha Lambaa, Wu Youyoua, Ilmo van der Lowe, Paul K. Piff, Charles Gronin, Pete Fleming, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Dacher Keltner and Aleksandr Spectre
More from the Authors
  • Visual Attention to Powerful Postures: People Avert Their Gaze from Nonverbal Dominance Displays By: Elise Holland, Elizabeth Baily Wolf, Christine Looser and Amy Cuddy
  • Racism, Causal Explanations, and Affirmative Action By: Theresa K. Vescio, Amy Cuddy, Faye Crosby and Kevin Weaver
  • On Wealth and the Diversity of Friendships: High Social Class People around the World Have Fewer International Friends By: Maurice H. Yearwood, Amy Cuddy, Nishtha Lambaa, Wu Youyoua, Ilmo van der Lowe, Paul K. Piff, Charles Gronin, Pete Fleming, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Dacher Keltner and Aleksandr Spectre
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College