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Bodies in action: Do contractive and expansive postures facilitate adaptive behavior?
Mai B Mikkelsen1, Gitte Tramm1, Johannes Michalak2
1Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|June 14, 2024
Summary
Expansive body displays may improve positive emotions but do not significantly impact adaptive behavior. However, for individuals with depression, these displays can worsen affective outcomes, suggesting caution in psychopathology contexts.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Previous research on body displays has limitations regarding context and individual differences.
- Understanding the impact of expansive and contractive postures on behavior and emotions is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of expansive and contractive body displays on adaptive behavior and affective outcomes.
- To examine these effects in fear and sadness contexts, with control conditions.
- To explore the moderating roles of motivational traits and psychopathology symptoms.
Main Methods:
- 186 adults participated in fear (mock job interview) and sadness (mood induction) experiments.
- Participants were randomly assigned to expansive, contractive, active control, or passive control body conditions.
- Outcomes included adaptive behavior (job performance, recall bias) and affective measures (emotions, action tendencies, appraisals).
Main Results:
- Body displays showed small, non-significant effects on adaptive behavior (ds = 0.19–0.28).
- Expansive displays yielded more favorable affective outcomes than contractive displays, particularly for positive emotions (ds = 0.33).
- Individuals with high depression levels experienced less favorable affective outcomes in body display conditions compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Body displays do not significantly influence adaptive behavior in the investigated contexts.
- Expansive body displays can lead to more favorable affective changes than contractive displays.
- Further research on body manipulations in psychopathology is recommended, especially concerning potential negative effects in vulnerable populations.
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