title: Powerful postures versus powerful roles: which is the proximate correlate of thought and behavior?
abstract: Three experiments explored whether hierarchical role and body posture have independent or interactive effects on the main outcomes associated with power: action in behavior and abstraction in thought. Although past research has found that being in a powerful role and adopting an expansive body posture can each enhance a sense of power, two experiments showed that when individuals were placed in high- or low-power roles while adopting an expansive or constricted posture, only posture affected the implicit activation of power, the taking of action, and abstraction. However, even though role had a smaller effect on the downstream consequences of power, it had a stronger effect than posture on self-reported sense of power. A final experiment found that posture also had a larger effect on action than recalling an experience of high or low power. We discuss body postures as one of the most proximate correlates of the manifestations of power.
authors.affiliation: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA .
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Adam D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Galinsky
authors.forename: Deborah H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Gruenfeld
authors.forename: Lucia E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Guillory
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012919:Social Behavior; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*