Search Here

Power poses or high status gestures might not actually work, according to a new study.

Researchers noted that leaning back with arms crossed behind the head and pressing hands on hips are typical power poses, which have been assumed to stimulate both psychological and physiological processes.

Previous studies revealed that high status gestures help alter hormone levels and boost willingness to take on financial risks.

However, new research from the University of Zurich reveal that power poses don't actually alter hormone levels or change human behavior.

The findings suggested that high status gestures or power poses only influence one's own perception of power.

"This indicates that the main influence of power poses is the fact that subjects realize that the feel more self-confident. We find no proof, however, that this has any effect on their behavior or their physiology," study leader Eva Ranehill of the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich said in a news release.

"Our study is much more meaningful than the original study, as we have much more data," added co-author Roberto Weber, Professor at the University of Zurich.

"The greater number of subjects in our study makes it much less probable that our results are due to coincidence. Our study is to the best of our knowledge the only published paper that again examines the effect of power poses on hormones.," he concluded.