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Power posing

Power posing is a body language technique involving the adoption of brief, expansive postures intended to evoke feelings of dominance and influence neuroendocrine responses, initially advanced by social psychologists Dana R. Carney, Amy J. C. Cuddy, and Andy J.-Y. Yap in a 2010 study published in Psychological Science.^[1] The approach posits that such nonverbal displays, mimicking high-status behaviors observed in primates and humans, can elevate testosterone levels, reduce cortisol, heighten subjective sensations of power, and increase tolerance for financial risk.^[2] These claims emerged from an experiment where participants held high- or low-power poses for two minutes before hormone assays and a gambling task, yielding statistically significant differences favoring expansive posing.^[1] The concept gained widespread attention following Cuddy's 2012 TED talk, "Your body language may shape who you are," which amassed over 60 million views and positioned power posing as a practical tool for boosting confidence in high-stakes situations like job interviews.^[3] Proponents, including Cuddy, extended its applications to suggest benefits for stress reduction and performance enhancement, drawing on embodied cognition theories that link posture to emotional and physiological states.^[4] However, the original study's small sample size (n=42) and lack of pre-registration raised early questions about reliability amid growing awareness of the replication crisis in psychology.^[5] Direct replications have largely failed to substantiate the core hormonal effects, with a 2015 study by Eva Ranehill and colleagues (n=200) finding no impact on testosterone, cortisol, or risk-taking despite using similar protocols.^[6] Carney herself later disavowed the findings, stating in 2016 that she no longer believed power posing produced the reported physiological changes due to inconsistent evidence.^[4] Meta-analytic reviews, including a Bayesian analysis of preregistered studies, indicate null effects on felt power and no robust support for broader claims, though some evidence persists for minor subjective boosts in confidence that may stem from demand characteristics or placebo-like mechanisms rather than causal physiological shifts.^[7] These developments underscore power posing's status as a cautionary example in psychological science, highlighting the primacy of replicable empirical evidence over initial enthusiasm.^[3]

Origins and Initial Claims

The 2010 Carney-Cuddy-Yap Study

The 2010 study by Dana R. Carney, Amy J. C. Cuddy, and Andy J. Yap, titled "Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance," was published in Psychological Science.^[2] The research examined whether brief nonverbal displays of power—expansive, open postures versus contractive, closed ones—could influence hormonal levels and behavioral tendencies, building on embodied cognition theories that posit bidirectional links between body postures and internal physiological and psychological states.^[2] Participants were randomly assigned to adopt either high-power poses (e.g., hands on hips, feet apart) or low-power poses (e.g., hunched shoulders, arms crossed) for one minute each, totaling two minutes, under experimenter guidance to ensure compliance.^[2] The sample consisted of 42 participants (26 females, 16 males), primarily undergraduate students, with saliva samples collected before posing and approximately 17 minutes after to measure baseline and post-manipulation levels of testosterone and cortisol via enzyme immunoassay.^[2] Following the posing period, participants completed a self-report measure of felt power on a 1-to-4 scale and a risk-taking task involving a choice to keep $2 or gamble for a 50% chance at $4 (with equivalent loss risk).^[2] The study reported that high-power posing led to increased testosterone levels relative to low-power posing, which produced a decrease (F(1,39) = 4.29, p < .05, r = .34), while high-power posing decreased cortisol by approximately 25% (from 0.16 to 0.12 μg/dl) and low-power posing increased it (F(1,38) = 7.45, p < .02, r = .43).^[2] On the risk-taking measure, 86% of high-power posers opted to gamble compared to 60% of low-power posers (χ²(1,N=42) = 3.86, p < .05, Φ = .30).^[2] High-power posers also self-reported greater feelings of power (M = 2.57, SD = 0.81) than low-power posers (M = 1.83, SD = 0.81; F(1,41) = 9.53, p < .01, r = .44).^[2]

Proposed Physiological and Psychological Mechanisms

The proposed mechanisms of power posing originate from observations that humans and nonhuman animals express dominance through open, expansive postures, such as widespread limbs that enlarge occupied space, which are evolutionarily linked to "alpha" status selection. These nonverbal displays, exemplified by poses like hands on hips with feet apart (resembling a "Wonder Woman" stance), were hypothesized by Carney, Cuddy, and Yap to create internal feedback loops, wherein the body signals power to the mind, mimicking the outward manifestations of actual high-power states.^[2] Central to the framework is a hypothesized causal chain: brief adoption of high-power expansive postures triggers neuroendocrine changes by elevating testosterone—a hormone associated with dominance, reward-seeking, and approach-oriented behaviors—while decreasing cortisol, the key stress hormone tied to subordination, threat vigilance, and withdrawal tendencies. This dual hormonal modulation was theorized to arise from embodiment effects, where physical posture directly influences physiological regulation, extending beyond cognitive or emotional symbolism to alter basal hormone levels and reactivity.^[2] Subsequently, these neuroendocrine shifts were proposed to engender psychological states of heightened power feelings and reduced anxiety, fostering greater risk tolerance and adaptive behavioral outcomes, such as increased willingness to gamble or assert in evaluations. The model posits bidirectionality, rooted in primate studies and human nonverbal communication research: power holders naturally embody expansive poses, and conversely, voluntarily assuming them induces power-consistent internal dynamics, independent of external social cues.^[2] This theoretical rationale draws from broader embodiment paradigms in psychology, positing that nonverbal dominance signals, conserved across species, enable rapid self-induced power amplification via sensorimotor feedback to the brain's power appraisal systems. Cuddy and colleagues' formulation emphasized brevity—mere minutes of posing sufficing for effects—positioning it as a pragmatic intervention leveraging innate postural-power linkages observed in everyday human interactions, like executives leaning back or subordinates contracting.^[2]

Popularization and Cultural Impact

Amy Cuddy's 2012 TED Talk and Media Spread

Amy Cuddy presented her TEDGlobal talk titled "Your body language may shape who you are" in June 2012, with the video uploaded to the TED website on October 1, 2012.^[8] In the 21-minute address, Cuddy explained how brief adoption of expansive "power poses"—such as standing with hands on hips or feet apart—could elevate testosterone levels, lower cortisol, and foster greater feelings of power and risk tolerance, based on her co-authored 2010 study.^[8]^[1] She simplified the research into actionable public advice, recommending two-minute posing sessions before stressful events like interviews, and incorporated personal stories to underscore accessibility and impact.^[8] The talk amassed over 75 million views by late 2025.^[8] The presentation catalyzed rapid media dissemination of power posing as a science-backed confidence booster. A November 2012 Forbes article described how such poses could raise the "power hormone" testosterone while diminishing stress-related cortisol, positioning them as a straightforward path to enhanced performance and dominance in professional settings.^[9] Coverage in major outlets from 2012 to 2015, including profiles in The New York Times, routinely depicted the technique as an empirically supported "hack" for everyday empowerment, often highlighting its viral appeal and practical utility without probing methodological details.^[10] This uncritical embrace amplified the idea's reach, influencing public perception prior to broader scientific reevaluation. In academic circles, the underlying 2010 Carney-Cuddy-Yap paper received early citations in related fields like social psychology and embodied cognition before 2015. For example, a 2012 Harvard study on power posing's effects in high-stakes evaluations referenced the original findings to explore preparatory nonverbal displays' influence on outcomes.^[11]^[1] Such endorsements from peers reinforced the concept's initial plausibility, facilitating its incorporation into discussions on posture's causal role in psychological states during this pre-replication phase.^[1]

Adoption in Self-Help, Business, and Sports

In self-help literature, power posing was prominently featured in Amy Cuddy's 2015 book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, which sold over 500,000 copies and prescribed two-minute sessions of expansive postures to cultivate confidence ahead of interviews, speeches, and negotiations.^[12] The book framed these practices as tools for authentic self-expression under pressure, drawing on the technique's accessibility for personal development without requiring specialized equipment or training.^[13] Business applications extended to executive coaching and corporate workshops, where power posing served as a quick intervention for enhancing perceived authority in high-stakes settings. Organizations like LeanIn.Org integrated it into facilitated sessions for professionals, instructing participants to adopt open stances to elevate feelings of competence during evaluations or pitches.^[14] Proponents in these contexts highlighted its role in fostering individual agency, with coaches reporting that brief posing routines helped clients project boldness independently of external validation. In sports psychology, power posing emerged as a pre-competition ritual to prime athletes for peak mindset. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's expansive arm-raised stance after securing the 100-meter gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was retrospectively cited as aligning with power posing's emphasis on dominance signaling to boost performance confidence.^[15] University athletic programs adopted similar techniques; for example, Montana State University recommended power poses in 2021 mental preparation guides, combining them with visualization to help competitors enter a focused state before events.^[16] Athletes described these poses as instilling a subjective surge of empowerment, enabling bolder execution in moments of acute pressure. Anecdotal accounts from practitioners across domains consistently emphasized enhanced subjective confidence, with users crediting two-minute poses for tangible shifts in self-perception during real-world challenges like salary discussions or game-day routines, prioritizing personal experiential gains over laboratory metrics.^[17]

Scientific Scrutiny and Replication Attempts

Early Replication Studies (2015-2017)

In 2015, Eva Ranehill and colleagues conducted a preregistered conceptual replication of the original Carney, Cuddy, and Yap study, involving 200 participants (98 women and 102 men) who adopted either high-power or low-power poses for two minutes while their hormone levels were measured via saliva samples. The experimenters were blinded to conditions, and analyses focused on changes in testosterone and cortisol levels, risk tolerance via economic decision tasks, and self-reported feelings of power. Results showed no significant effects on testosterone (mean difference = -4.077, p = 0.162), cortisol (mean difference = -0.028, p = 0.272), or risk tolerance in gain or loss domains (e.g., p = 0.215 for gains). However, high-power posing led to a significant increase in self-reported feelings of power (mean difference = 0.245, p = 0.017). Subsequent multi-lab efforts in 2016 and 2017 further tested power posing's behavioral impacts. A University of Pennsylvania study examined poses in competitive contexts, assigning participants to win or lose a preliminary task before posing, and measured subsequent testosterone, cortisol, economic risk-taking, and self-reported power. No main effects of pose type emerged on any outcome, though small interactions suggested high-power poses might slightly elevate testosterone for winners but not affect risk-taking overall.^[18] Similarly, a 2017 special issue coordinated by Joseph Cesario at Michigan State University included preregistered studies from 11 labs, aggregating data on power posing's influence on behavioral outcomes like decision-making and performance; these yielded null results, indicating no reliable efficacy for altering objective behaviors.^[19] These replication attempts coincided with initial scrutiny of the original study's data practices. In 2016, Joseph Simmons and Uri Simonsohn applied p-curve analysis to the emerging body of power posing research, including the original, revealing patterns consistent with selective reporting of analyses that could inflate effects in low-powered studies, though they noted the need for direct data access to confirm.^[20] This raised questions about the robustness of early positive findings, prompting calls for full data disclosure from the 2010 authors.^[21]

Large-Scale Meta-Analyses (2017-2022)

In 2017, Simmons and Simonsohn applied p-curve analysis to the existing body of published power posing research, finding that the distribution of p-values suggested weak evidential value for the claimed effects on hormones, risk tolerance, and feelings of power, indicative of potential selective reporting or inflated effects due to questionable research practices.^[22] This analysis encompassed 33 studies testing neuroendocrine and behavioral outcomes, highlighting insufficient statistical power and the need for scrutiny in social psychology's broader replication challenges.^[23] A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis by Elkjær et al. synthesized experimental studies on expansive versus contractive motor displays, including power posing variants, across affective, hormonal, and behavioral domains.^[24] Drawing from 73 studies with over 2,000 participants, the analysis revealed no reliable effects on testosterone or cortisol levels (effect sizes near zero, with high heterogeneity and evidence of publication bias), while identifying small positive effects on self-reported feelings of power and dominance (Hedges' g ≈ 0.28) but inconsistent behavioral outcomes like risk-taking.^[25] Preregistered replications included in the review, conducted amid heightened awareness of the replication crisis, further attenuated physiological effect estimates to negligible levels, underscoring the role of larger sample sizes in detecting true signals amid noise. Subsequent large-scale efforts reinforced these patterns. A 2022 meta-analytic review of 88 studies involving 9,779 participants examined body position effects on behavioral, self-report, and physiological variables, distinguishing dominance-signaling expansive poses from prestige-oriented ones.^[26] It reported small overall effects on self-perceived power (Cohen's d = 0.24) and approach-oriented behaviors, but null findings for hormonal shifts in testosterone and cortisol, with funnel plot asymmetry pointing to publication bias favoring positive results.^[27] These aggregated analyses collectively demonstrated that while subjective feelings may exhibit modest, context-dependent responsiveness to posing instructions—potentially via expectancy or demand characteristics—robust physiological mechanisms remain unsupported, emphasizing the field's shift toward preregistration and higher-powered designs to mitigate bias in embodied cognition research.^[28]

Empirical Findings on Key Effects

Hormonal Changes (Testosterone and Cortisol)

The original 2010 study by Carney, Cuddy, and Yap reported that participants assigned to high-power poses for two minutes exhibited a approximately 20% increase in testosterone levels and a 25% decrease in cortisol levels compared to those in low-power poses, measured via salivary assays. These neuroendocrine shifts were posited as a physiological basis for subsequent behavioral changes, with high-power posers showing elevated risk tolerance. Subsequent replication efforts, including blinded and preregistered designs, consistently failed to detect these hormonal effects. In a 2015 study with 200 participants, Ranehill et al. found no significant differences in testosterone or cortisol levels between power posing and control conditions, despite using similar protocols and larger sample sizes. Similarly, Apicella et al. (2016) examined power poses immediately following competitive outcomes and reported no main effect of pose type on testosterone or cortisol, even when stratifying by winners and losers. Other direct replications, such as those in 2016-2019, confirmed null results for acute hormonal modulation from brief posing.^[29] Meta-analytic reviews and multi-study syntheses up to 2022 indicate negligible to zero average effects on testosterone and cortisol across dozens of power posing experiments, with effect sizes often below detectable thresholds for salivary assays.^[30] Potential explanations for original findings include assay sensitivity limitations, where small posture-induced variations may not reliably exceed measurement noise, or insufficient pose durations to trigger hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal or gonadal axis responses.^[31] From a biological standpoint, acute static poses lasting one to two minutes lack the sustained muscular engagement, autonomic activation, or social-evaluative context typically required to elicit measurable testosterone surges or cortisol reductions, as these hormones respond more robustly to prolonged physical exertion, victory in competition, or chronic stress.^[18] Critics argue that expecting brief nonverbal displays to causally alter circulating steroids overlooks the timescales of endocrine signaling, which generally involve minutes to hours of behavioral reinforcement rather than isolated postures.

Behavioral Outcomes (Risk-Taking and Performance)

In the original 2010 study by Carney, Cuddy, and Yap, participants assigned to high-power poses exhibited greater risk tolerance in a gambling task, opting to gamble $2 out of an initial $2 endowment 86% of the time compared to 60% for those in low-power poses.^[2] Subsequent replication attempts have largely failed to reproduce this effect on risk-taking. A 2016 preregistered replication and extension found no influence of expansive postures on gambling decisions, with participants showing equivalent risk behavior across conditions. Similarly, a 2019 study concluded that power postures do not affect risk-taking behaviors in analogous tasks, attributing prior findings to potential methodological artifacts rather than causal posture effects.^[32] A 2024 direct replication attempt also reported null results for risk-taking, aligning with broader patterns of non-replication in behavioral outcomes.^[33] Evidence for power posing enhancing objective performance in real-world analogs, such as job interviews, remains limited and inconsistent. While a 2015 study by Cuddy and colleagues observed improved nonverbal presence and hireability ratings for high-power posers preparing for mock interviews (with 26% hire rate vs. 0% for low-power), this has not held in subsequent controlled evaluations, where multiple attempts yielded no differences in performance metrics.^[34] Reviews of proximal behavioral outcomes indicate mixed or weak effects overall, with null results predominant in larger or preregistered designs. Demand characteristics may confound interpretations of any observed behavioral shifts, as participants aware of the study's focus on power could alter actions to align with expected outcomes, inflating apparent effects independent of physiological or embodied mechanisms.^[3] This issue is compounded by small sample sizes in early positive findings, reducing reliability in detecting true posture-driven changes in risk or performance.^[3]

Subjective Confidence and Feelings of Power

Studies examining the subjective effects of power posing have consistently reported small increases in self-reported feelings of power and confidence, independent of physiological changes. A 2022 meta-analysis of 88 studies involving 9,799 participants found robust evidence for these self-perceived benefits, with participants in expansive postures reporting higher levels of power, confidence, and positive affect compared to those in contracted postures, across diverse demographics including age, gender, and cultures (Western and Eastern).^[26] These effects were larger than those observed in other forms of embodied feedback interventions, such as facial expressions, suggesting a specific role for postural expansiveness in altering self-perception.^[26] Effect sizes for these subjective changes are modest, typically in the small range (e.g., Cohen's d ≈ 0.23 in individual studies measuring feelings of power).^[35] Pre-registered replications, such as Ranehill et al. (2015), confirmed increases in self-reported power as a manipulation check, even when hormonal and behavioral outcomes failed to replicate. A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis further provided strong evidence for a positive effect on felt power, with informed priors estimating non-zero effects.^[36] The persistence of these subjective benefits without corresponding physiological mediation points to non-bodily mechanisms, such as expectation or placebo effects. Effects on explicit feelings of power are notably larger among participants familiar with the power posing concept, as shown in a meta-analysis of six pre-registered studies, indicating that awareness or demand characteristics may drive self-reports.^[37] This suggests that interventions emphasizing mindset shifts—rather than causal claims of embodied influence—may account for the observed improvements in perceived confidence.^[37]

Criticisms and Methodological Concerns

P-Hacking, Selective Reporting, and Original Data Issues

Dana Carney, the lead author of the seminal 2010 power posing study published in Psychological Science, publicly stated in October 2016 that she no longer believed the reported embodied effects of power posing were real, attributing this to failed replications and recognition of methodological shortcomings in the original work.^[38] In a detailed personal statement, Carney disclosed several questionable research practices (QRPs) employed during data collection and analysis, including the absence of pre-registration, unclear stopping rules for sample sizes, failure to report all measured outcomes, and lack of corrections for multiple comparisons, which collectively enabled flexibility that could inflate significance. For instance, the study did not specify or adhere to rigid protocols for pose durations, allowing variations around the reported two-minute standard without disclosure, potentially introducing analyst discretion in classifying or timing observations. These admissions fueled suspicions of p-hacking, where researchers iteratively analyze data in multiple ways—such as subsetting samples, excluding outliers post-hoc, or testing various combinations of predictors—until statistically significant results emerge by chance, without reporting the unsuccessful paths. In the original study, multiple dependent variables (e.g., testosterone increases, cortisol decreases, risk tolerance via gambling decisions) were assessed but not all exploratory analyses or null findings were documented, raising concerns that reported p-values (e.g., p = 0.015 for testosterone changes) represented cherry-picked outcomes from a broader set of tests. A p-curve analysis by Simmons, Nelson, and Simonsohn (2017), applied to the power posing literature including the Carney et al. findings, revealed p-value distributions that were flattened rather than right-skewed as expected under true effects, providing statistical evidence consistent with selective reporting of significant results over genuine evidential value. Original data issues further compounded credibility problems, as raw datasets from the 2010 study were not initially made publicly available, hindering independent verification and reanalysis until later scrutiny prompted partial releases.^[39] This opacity, combined with the disclosed analytical flexibilities, exemplified how QRPs prevalent in pre-replication-crisis psychology could produce flashy but fragile findings, positioning power posing as a canonical case in discussions of the reproducibility crisis. Subsequent multiverse analyses of the original data confirmed that results were highly sensitive to reasonable alternative specifications, such as different handling of covariates or exclusions, underscoring the role of undisclosed researcher degrees of freedom in generating the initial positive outcomes.^[31]

Confounds in Experimental Designs

The original power posing study by Carney, Cuddy, and Yap lacked blinding for participants or experimenters, as individuals were explicitly instructed to adopt high- or low-power poses in private rooms, enabling them to readily infer the hypothesis that expansive postures enhance feelings of power and influence subsequent behaviors.^[40] This design vulnerability introduced potential demand effects, wherein participants might unconsciously adjust their self-reports or risk-taking to match expected outcomes, a concern echoed in broader critiques of power manipulation experiments where nonverbal cues signal intended effects.^[41] Carney herself later highlighted this unblinded setup as a key confound, noting that participants' awareness of the posing conditions undermined causal attribution to the postures alone.^[40] Pose durations in the foundational experiment were limited to two minutes (one minute per pose), a brief interval that deviates substantially from prolonged postural habits in naturalistic settings, such as during negotiations or public speaking, thereby questioning the generalizability of observed effects.^[1] Carney critiqued this brevity as insufficient to plausibly drive neuroendocrine shifts, suggesting it more likely elicited transient psychological responses tied to novelty or instruction rather than embodied posture.^[40] The sample also exhibited gender imbalance, with 26 females and 16 males among 42 undergraduates, potentially skewing results given documented sex differences in baseline hormone levels and postural responses.^[1] Post-2015 investigations into subjective outcomes often compounded these issues by integrating posing manipulations with directive instructions about anticipated benefits, such as increased confidence, which primed expectancy and artifactually elevated self-reported power sensations independent of physical embodiment.^[40] Carney identified such instructional confounds in multiple follow-up studies, arguing they conflated mere belief in the intervention's efficacy with any genuine postural mechanism, as evidenced by persistent self-report effects in non-blinded designs despite absent physiological changes.^[40]^[42] These methodological choices prioritized perceived practicality over rigorous isolation of variables, fostering inflated subjective findings that do not withstand scrutiny for causal purity.^[3]

Alternative Explanations and Defenses

Placebo Effects and Embodied Cognition

Some researchers propose that reported subjective benefits of power posing, such as increased feelings of confidence and power, may stem from placebo-like effects driven by the intentional adoption of expansive postures as a form of self-signaling. This mechanism resembles the psychological boost from positive affirmations or motivational rituals, where awareness of the pose's purported empowering intent enhances perceived efficacy through expectation alone, without requiring underlying physiological alterations. A 2019 analysis of replication attempts noted that while hormonal changes failed to replicate, self-reported confidence occasionally increased, potentially reflecting such demand characteristics or motivational priming rather than embodied causation.^[43] In the broader context of embodied cognition, postures can modulate mood and self-perception via proprioceptive and interoceptive feedback loops, conveying dominance signals back to the brain independent of neuroendocrine pathways. Experimental evidence shows that upright or expansive body positions foster subtle positive shifts in affective states and perceptual judgments of power, as sensory input from muscle tension and spatial expansion influences cognitive appraisals. A 2022 meta-analysis of 56 studies on induced body positions found small but reliable effects on self-reported feelings of dominance and prestige (Hedges' g = 0.24), contrasting with null physiological outcomes, suggesting these perceptual changes arise from direct sensorimotor embodiment rather than hormonal mediation.^[44] This aligns with evolutionary accounts of nonverbal displays, where humans, like other primates, use postural expansions to assert status; adopting such poses may facilitate self-regulation by synchronizing external behavioral signals with internal motivational states, promoting adaptive confidence in social contexts. Theoretical models posit that these displays originally evolved for interpersonal influence but can be co-opted for intrapersonal feedback, enhancing resilience or decision-making through habitual alignment of body and mind. However, such effects remain modest and context-dependent, with no evidence of robust behavioral translation beyond immediate subjective reports.^[2]

Amy Cuddy's Responses and Ongoing Advocacy

In a February 2017 Q&A published on TED's Ideas blog, Amy Cuddy conceded that direct replications of the 2010 study's hormonal effects—elevated testosterone and reduced cortisol—had not succeeded, citing mixed or null results in subsequent research such as a 200-participant study from the University of Zurich.^[45] She countered by asserting that expansive postures consistently boosted subjective feelings of power and confidence, drawing on at least nine published and four unpublished replications across nine labs, and positioned this as evidence for a broader "postural feedback effect" corroborated by 57 studies from over 100 researchers.^[45] Cuddy reframed her advocacy around "postural feedback" rather than original hormonal claims, emphasizing in a 2016 overview that a systematic review of 46 studies involving 96 researchers demonstrated robust impacts on self-reported power, happiness, and mood, while expressing greater uncertainty about physiological or behavioral outcomes like risk-taking.^[46] She argued this shift highlighted the technique's practical utility for marginalized groups, such as older adults or those with depression, and critiqued the scientific discourse surrounding her work as overly adversarial, potentially discouraging further inquiry.^[46] Facing intense scrutiny, Cuddy publicly connected the power posing controversy to her 2016 denial of tenure at Harvard Business School, portraying the episode as emblematic of institutional bullying and a test of personal resilience that reinforced her commitment to disseminating the research beyond academia.^[47] ^[48] In 2018, she co-authored a p-curve analysis of 54 studies (33 from the original literature plus 21 additional) to rebut p-hacking allegations, claiming "very strong" evidentiary value for subjective power effects as a primary dependent variable.^[3] Cuddy persisted in promoting variants of the technique through the early 2020s, interpreting the 2020 Elkjær et al. meta-analysis of 48 studies (N=7,038) as partial vindication, particularly for effects distinguishing contractive from neutral poses on self-perception, and tweeted that "these findings are vindicating" despite null results for expansive versus neutral comparisons and only trending cortisol changes.^[3] ^[49] In related discussions, she underscored a 2017 Bayesian meta-analysis from the Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology special issue (N=1,071), which supported "felt power" gains, maintaining that subjective confidence benefits justified continued application in high-stakes contexts like job interviews, even as she distanced from unsubstantiated physiological assertions.^[3]

Current Scientific Consensus and Practical Implications

Synthesis of Evidence Post-Replication Crisis

Following extensive replication efforts and meta-analytic reviews, the scientific consensus as of 2025 rejects reliable evidence for power posing's claimed hormonal effects, such as increases in testosterone or decreases in cortisol. Multiple studies, including direct replications, have consistently failed to detect these neuroendocrine changes, attributing original findings to methodological artifacts like selective reporting rather than causal mechanisms.^[33]^[50] Similarly, behavioral outcomes like enhanced risk-taking or performance improvements lack substantiation across preregistered trials, with null results predominating in controlled settings.^[26]^[51] Subjective gains in feelings of power or confidence appear minor and inconsistent, often emerging only in self-reports without corresponding objective measures; these effects are not uniquely attributable to expansive poses and may stem from demand characteristics or placebo-like expectations.^[52] Recent investigations from 2023 to 2025, including a 2024 preregistered replication and a 2025 field study on daily body displays, reinforce these nulls, showing no causal influence on adaptive behaviors or affect beyond baseline variability.^[33]^[51] No major studies in this period have overturned prior failures, underscoring persistent inconsistencies tied to small sample sizes and underpowered designs in early work. The power posing controversy serves as a paradigmatic cautionary example in psychology's replication crisis, illustrating how unpreregistered analyses and publication biases can amplify illusory effects into widespread hype. It has spurred methodological reforms, including mandatory preregistration and emphasis on effect size transparency, to prioritize replicable empirical findings over preliminary or outlier results.^[3]^[53] This case highlights the value of causal realism in distinguishing embodied cognition claims from verified interventions, with prevailing evidence favoring null hypotheses absent robust, multi-study convergence.

Recommendations for Individuals and Further Research

Individuals contemplating the use of power posing for situational confidence enhancement may experiment with brief expansive postures, such as open stances with arms outstretched, prior to tasks like interviews, given evidence from meta-analyses of 73 studies showing consistent effects on subjective feelings of power and mood, independent of hormonal changes.^[4] These potential benefits, potentially mediated by psychological or placebo mechanisms, carry low risk and minimal time investment, but should complement, not replace, empirically robust strategies including structured preparation, repeated practice, and cognitive rehearsal, which demonstrate stronger, more reliable outcomes in performance domains.^[3] Self-directed trials in non-critical scenarios allow personal assessment of efficacy, acknowledging variability across individuals and contexts where replications have failed to confirm broader behavioral impacts.^[52] Ongoing research should prioritize preregistered, large-scale replications with diverse demographics, including non-Western and pediatric populations, to delineate effect moderators like cultural norms or age.^[4] Longitudinal designs examining habitual expansive posturing could uncover cumulative effects on risk tolerance, decision-making, or well-being, addressing gaps in short-term paradigms.^[33] Mechanistic inquiries via neuroimaging, such as fMRI to map neural correlates of postural feedback, and integrated assays of neuroendocrine systems (e.g., serum estradiol alongside cortisol), promise clearer causal pathways beyond self-reported outcomes.^[33] Multi-trial behavioral tasks in real-world settings would enhance ecological validity, mitigating confounds from laboratory constraints.^[26] The trajectory of power posing research exemplifies how initial enthusiasm can yield to nuanced evidence, reinforcing the value of provisional self-empowerment techniques amid evolving scientific scrutiny rather than rigid adherence to provisional consensuses.^[3]

References

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Power Posing: <I>P</I>-Curving the Evidence
Jun 10, 2016 · 33 successful studies investigating the effects of expansive vs. contractive posing, focusing on differences between these studies and the failed replication.
[21]
http://datacolada.org/37
[22]
Power Posing: P-Curving the Evidence - Sage Journals
Mar 20, 2017 · Power posing: Brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science, 21, 1363–1368.
[23]
Power Posing: P-Curving the Evidence - PubMed
Authors. Joseph P Simmons , Uri Simonsohn. Affiliation. 1 University of Pennsylvania. PMID: 28485698; DOI: 10.1177/0956797616658563. No abstract available ...Missing: selective reporting 2016
[24]
Expansive and Contractive Postures and Movement - Sage Journals
Jun 22, 2020 · This review and meta-analysis explores the experimental effects of expansive and contractive motor displays on affective, hormonal, and behavioral responses.
[25]
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Motor ...
Jun 22, 2020 · This review and meta-analysis explores the experimental effects of expansive and contractive motor displays on affective, hormonal, and behavioral responses.
[26]
Dominance and prestige: Meta-analytic review of experimentally ...
We conducted a meta-analytic review on body position studies. We used the dominance–prestige framework and distinguished between high-power poses representing ...
[27]
In brief: Power poses, therapy appointment stigma, and more research
Oct 1, 2022 · ... 88 studies with 9,779 participants. They found that compared with low-power poses (e.g., slumped posture), high-power poses (e.g., standing ...
[28]
Meta-Analytic Review of Experimentally Induced Body Position ...
Based on 313 effects from 88 studies involving 9,779 participants, evidence was obtained for an overall statistically significant effect of body positions that ...
[29]
Repeatedly adopting power postures does not affect hormonal ... - NIH
Jun 17, 2019 · The present results suggest that even repeated power posing in a context where social stimuli are task-relevant does not elicit changes in hormone levels.
[30]
Meta Analysis: Psychological Effects of Power Poses - Humintell
Aug 2, 2022 · Some research has found that power posing does affect behavioral traits like task persistence and antisocialness, but other studies have not.
[31]
[PDF] Revisiting the Power Pose Effect: How Robust Are the Results ...
Replication Data for “Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect. Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance” by Carney, Cuddy, Yap (2010). Harvard.Missing: details | Show results with:details
[32]
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1017/prp.2019.17
[33]
The effects of power posing on neuroendocrine levels and risk-taking
Dec 5, 2024 · Among high-power posers, a decrease in cortisol levels was associated with risk tolerance. Power posing was not found to influence progesterone ...
[34]
Preparatory power posing affects nonverbal presence and job ...
The authors tested whether engaging in expansive (vs. contractive) "power poses" before a stressful job interview--preparatory power posing--would enhance ...
[35]
Improving interoceptive ability through the practice of power posing
Feb 7, 2019 · These findings suggest that adopting powerful postures has the potential to increase interoceptive accuracy, as well as subjective feelings of power.Power Postures · Results · Subjective Feelings Of Power
[36]
A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect ...
Aug 6, 2025 · We present a Bayesian metaanalysis of six preregistered studies from this special issue, focusing on the effect of power posing on felt power.
[37]
Power pose effects on approach and avoidance decisions in ...
We investigated if adopting expansive or contracted poses, which signal dominance and submission, impacts individuals' approach and avoidance decisions.
[38]
'Power Poses' Co-Author: 'I Do Not Believe The Effects Are Real' - NPR
Oct 1, 2016 · Prof. Dana Carney, co-author of a 2010 Psychological Science study on the idea of power poses, says she now has no faith in the embodied effects of power poses.Missing: mechanisms | Show results with:mechanisms
[39]
Reassessing The Evidence Behind The Most Popular TED Talk
May 8, 2015 · The power-posing participants were reported to have felt more powerful, sought more risk, had higher testosterone levels, and lower cortisol levels.<|control11|><|separator|>
[40]
https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/dana_carney/pdf_my%20position%20on%20power%20poses.pdf
[41]
The problem of demand effects in power studies: Moving beyond ...
Experimental designs may rely on surveys that contain implicit assumptions and, even if they do not, demand effects can be created when designs are obvious to ...
[42]
[PDF] No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of ...
A recent strand of literature within this field has focused on how physical postures that express power and dominance (power poses) influence psychological and ...
[43]
'No evidence at all' that power posing will get you a job | CBC Radio
Mar 15, 2019 · Joseph Cesario, co-editor of a Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, which published the new research. Power posing was popularized by Dr.<|separator|>
[44]
Embodiment: I sat, I felt, I performed – Posture effects on mood and ...
Additionally, a recent study linked upright postures with experiences of higher self-esteem, increased arousal, a more positive mood, less fear and fewer ...
[45]
Inside the debate about power posing: a Q & A with Amy Cuddy |
Feb 22, 2017 · The social psychologist updates the research on posture and hormones, responds to critics and discusses her current work.Missing: framework | Show results with:framework
[46]
My overview of the state of the science on postural feedback ("power ...
These studies look at the effects of adopting expansive posture on job interview performance, food intake of people with symptoms of disordered ...Missing: original | Show results with:original
[47]
When the Revolution Came for Amy Cuddy - The New York Times
Oct 18, 2017 · Cuddy has gone on to give talks on power and the body (including power posing) and stereotyping to women's groups in Australia, at youth ...
[48]
Did power-posing guru Amy Cuddy deserve her public shaming?
Oct 19, 2017 · The superstar of social psychology and inventor of the “power pose” has been reduced to hunching. She's sitting in her Harvard office with one hand tucked ...Missing: denial | Show results with:denial
[49]
https://twitter.com/amyjccuddy/status/1276588387739357185
[50]
Dominance or prestige: A review of the effects of power poses and ...
We review the literature and conclude that there is no clear evidence that short-term interventions involving body positions affect physiology or behavior.
[51]
The Power of Posing: Do Body Display Instructions Have an Impact ...
Jun 18, 2025 · The present study investigated the effects of expansive and contractive body display instructions on adaptive behavior and affect.
[52]
Do power poses have a consistent effect on self-confidence?
No, recent studies do not show a consistent effect of power poses on self-confidence, though some short-term subjective benefits are reported.
[53]
Commentary on Elkjær et al.'s (2020) Meta-Analysis on Expansive ...
Jun 23, 2021 · Expansive and contractive postures and movement: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of motor displays on affective and behavioral responses.