Leadership Is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress

Gary D. Sherman; J. J. Lee; A.J.C.  Cuddy; Jonathan  Renshon; Christopher  Oveis; James J. Gross; Jennifer S. Lerner

Article | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Leadership Is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress

by Gary D. Sherman, J. J. Lee, A.J.C. Cuddy, Jonathan Renshon, Christopher Oveis, James J. Gross and Jennifer S. Lerner

Abstract

As leaders ascend to more powerful positions in their groups, they face ever-increasing demands. This has given rise to the common perception that leaders have higher stress levels than non-leaders. But if leaders also experience a heightened sense of control—a psychological factor known to have powerful stress-buffering effects—leadership should be associated with reduced stress levels. Using unique samples of real leaders, including military officers and government officials, we found that, compared to non-leaders, leaders had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower reports of anxiety (Study 1). In a second study, leaders holding more powerful positions exhibited lower cortisol levels and less anxiety than leaders holding less powerful positions, a relationship explained significantly by their greater sense of control. Altogether, these findings reveal a clear relationship between leadership and stress, with leadership level being inversely related to stress.

Keywords: leadership; stress; cortisol; control; Leadership; Emotions; Power and Influence;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Sherman, Gary D., J. J. Lee, A.J.C. Cuddy, Jonathan Renshon, Christopher Oveis, James J. Gross, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "Leadership Is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109, no. 44 (October 30, 2012): 17903–17907.

Article | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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

Elise Holland, Elizabeth Baily Wolf, Christine Looser and Amy Cuddy

This paper investigates whether humans avert their gaze from individuals engaging in nonverbal displays of dominance. Although past studies demonstrate that both humans and nonhuman primates direct more visual attention to high-status others than low-status others, nonhuman primates avert their gaze when high-status conspecifics engage in nonverbal dominance displays (e.g., chest pounding). In two experiments, participants were eye-tracked while viewing photographs of men and women adopting either dominant, high-power (i.e., expansive and open) or submissive, low-power (i.e., contractive and closed) nonverbal postures. Results demonstrated that humans, like primates, avert their gaze from the faces and upper bodies of individuals displaying dominance compared to those displaying submissiveness. Not only did participants look less often at the faces and upper bodies of dominance-displaying individuals, they also fixated on these regions for shorter durations. Our findings ultimately suggest that nonverbal dominance displays influence humans’ visual attention in ways that are likely to shape how social interactions unfold.

Keywords: Nonverbal Behavior; eye-tracking; power and influence; dominance; Nonverbal Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Power and Influence;

Citation:

Holland, Elise, Elizabeth Baily Wolf, Christine Looser, and Amy Cuddy. "Visual Attention to Powerful Postures: People Avert Their Gaze from Nonverbal Dominance Displays." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 68 (January 2017): 60–67. View Details

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Leadership Is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress

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