Video Shorts: Embodied Cognition and Contractive Body Language

Your Body Language can Trigger Emotion

This short video explains why we should avoid contractive behaviour to feel more powerful.

Approximate Video Transcript

According to the theory of Embodied Cognition, we can do things to help us feel more powerful through body language, facial expression and voice.

If you've heard of Amy Cuddy and the power pose, you probably think I'm going to say it's about being more expansive, but that's not the case.

The theory was that being more expansive, being in a more powerful pose, helps us to feel more powerful. It was a controversial theory, one with much discord. However, that discord led to recent scientific scrutiny. The exciting news is that scientific scrutiny found that how we use our body language can make us feel more powerful, but not in the way we thought. Initially, expansive poses had been tested against contractive poses in studies, but they hadn't been tested against a neutral stance. Neutral, expansive, and contractive (demo).

When we test against a neutral pose, science tells us it is less about being expansive, and more about avoiding contractive behaviours. So if we're more expansive, then yes, great, it doesn't matter, but what does matter is not being contractive. Neutral or more expansive poses will help us feel more powerful because we're avoiding being contractive.

What happens to your body language when you're feeling negative or discomfort? It becomes contractive and that includes blocking behaviours.

A blocking behaviour is when we block one part of our body over another part of the body. Usually, it's the arms crossing, but we can do it with other things. For example, when we pick up a cup or a glass and hold it in front of us, it's a blocking mechanism. Or if we grab something like a file and carry it across us. Women often grab their handbag and put it on their knee when they're out and about. Sometimes we do it for safety, like someone taking the bag, for example, but other times it's a protective blocking mechanism. It's contractive behaviour, though. Instead, we should avoid being contractive and remain neutral or more expansive.