A study published in the British Journal of Psychology suggests that incidental posture manipulation—achieved by altering the physical environment rather than instructing participants how to sit—can influence mood and willingness to take risks. The findings indicate that an upright, expansive posture encouraged by the surroundings may lead to subtly riskier decisions than a more hunched, contractive setup.
The concept falls under the broader idea of embodied emotion, which posits that adopting expressions associated with a particular emotion can trigger the corresponding feeling. In this field, power poses involve adopting a spacious, upright stance to signal dominance, while contractive postures convey submission by occupying less space.
Early work claimed that deliberately adopting expansive postures boosted feelings of dominance and increased risk-taking, a claim popularised in a 2010 study. Yet subsequent replication efforts, notably a high-profile 2015 replication, did not find changes in risk-taking from power posing, fuelling debate over the genuineness of the original findings.
Later research showed that merely guiding people into specific postures, without overt instruction, could still alter mood and cognitive performance. A 2021 study demonstrated this subtle effect, while a PsyPost report in 2024 linked naturally standing more upright with higher levels of social dominance orientation. This progression prompted researchers to ask whether incidental posture manipulation—where the environment nudges posture without conscious awareness—could influence risk-taking behavior as well.
Led by Soren Wainio-Theberge of McGill University, the study recruited 198 participants, predominantly young women, who were randomly assigned to two experimental groups. An additional 113 participants, recruited as part of a separate project, served as a control group.
Researchers implemented an incidental posture manipulation by altering the study’s setup rather than giving pose instructions. Participants sat at an adjustable table to complete a computer task on a tablet. In the expansive group, the table was raised and the tablet positioned on a stand slightly above eye level, encouraging an upright posture. In the contractive group, the table was lowered toward knee level, requiring participants to hunch to view the screen.
To measure risk-taking, participants completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, which involves pumping a digital balloon to accumulate virtual money, with the risk of losing it if the balloon pops. The team also recorded participants on video to objectively assess neck angles, ensuring the intended postures were adopted. Finally, participants filled out questionnaires about mood and pride before and after the task.
The environmental manipulation successfully shifted posture without most participants realising it. Video analysis showed those in the expansive group maintained a longer, more upright neck angle, compared with the contractive group’s hunched posture. Most participants reported little to no awareness that their posture had been manipulated by the setup.
Behaviourally, the expansive group showed higher levels of risk-taking over the course of the task. They elected to pump the balloons more times before cashing out, compared with the contractive group, leading to slightly higher overall earnings—averaging 701 virtual dollars versus 645—though the number of balloons that popped did not differ between groups.
Compared with the control group, the expansive participants displayed greater risk-taking, while the contractive group behaved similarly to controls. The posture also correlated with emotional state, with a more upright neck angle predicting a stronger self-reported sense of pride after the task.
These results sit alongside earlier findings that deliberate power posing may not yield real-world benefits in risk-taking. The newer study, by contrast, induced posture implicitly through environmental constraints rather than explicit posing, which may explain the differing outcomes.
As with many studies, there are caveats. The sample skewed young and female, all drawn from a Western country, which may limit generalisability to older adults, males, or other cultural contexts where social dominance is expressed differently.
The researchers acknowledge variability within the contractive group, where some participants tilted their heads differently or leaned forward from the hips, complicating precise identification of which movements drive mood and behaviour. They call for future work to track body mechanics in greater detail.
The study, titled Manipulating posture implicitly through environmental constraints influences mood and risk-taking behaviour, lists Soren Wainio-Theberge and Jorge Armony as authors.
