Power Poses Don't Make People Confident And Can Actually Backfire

In 2010, a small study was conducted regarding certain poses that are supposed to exude confidence and power, which resulted in researchers trumpeting the merits of so-called “power poses.” Unfortunately, a new study suggests that this is not only ineffective, it can also backfire on the ones doing the poses.

The 2010 study failed to produce expected results when it was finally done on a large scale in 2015, Slate reports. At this point, the research was already hailed as a huge inspiration for those who are lacking in confidence, even getting 36 million views on YouTube when the findings were presented during a TED Talk.

As it turns out, the methodology used during the 2010 study were quite flawed and the scale of the research was far too limited to have been blown out of proportion as it was. Because of this, the lead author of the study, Dana Carney disavowed the research and its results.

Unfortunately, the misunderstandings caused by the publication and widespread misinformation regarding the research remains even today. Just to make the matter absolutely clear, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study looking into power poses and concluded that it actually achieves the opposite of the desired effect.

One of the researchers behind the study is Coren Apicella, MedixalXpress reports, and she said that power posing for the sake of appearing strong has a negative effect on the hormones that provide such a state. Specifically, testosterone.

"We did find that if anything—and we're skeptical of these results because we'd want to replicate them—that, if you're a loser and you take a winner or high power pose, your testosterone decreases," Apicella said.

“Losers” is, of course, a coarse way of describing individuals who have limited self-esteem and self-confidence. Even so, the point still remains. If the subject does not naturally feel powerful, no amount of power-posing is going to help.