Neuroscience
Stop slouching! Sitting with an upright posture can have a positive effect on your mood and improve your performance at a maths test, but only if you are male. That's the implication of a study by Tomi-Ann Roberts and Yousef Arefi-Afshar at Colorado College in America.
Sixty undergrads completed an intelligence test before being asked to assume either a slumped or upright posture for three minutes. During this time they were given fictitious feedback on the intelligence test, indicating they had scored in the top 25 per cent of all previous test takers. Returning to their natural posture, they then completed mood questionnaires and a maths test.
Among the men, those who'd been instructed to sit upright subsequently scored better at the maths test, reported being in a more positive mood, and being happier with their intelligence test performance, than did the men who'd been told to sit slumped.
The opposite pattern was true among the women – those who'd been in a slumped position were happier with their IQ test performance and did better at the later maths test, than did the women who'd sat upright.
Why the gender difference? The researchers speculated that because of the gendered culture we live in, the women may have felt more natural in slumped position which is associated with lower status. Also, they said the act of sitting upright and pushing their chests forward may have made the women, but not the men, feel self-conscious.
The idea that our posture can affect our emotions is consistent with other research showing that pulling various facial expressions can alter our mood – for example smiling can make us feel happier (link is to pdf).
_________________________________
Roberts, T-A. & Arefi-Afshar, Y. (2007). Not all who stand tall are proud: Gender differences in the proprioceptive effects of upright posture. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 714-727.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Doing The "happy Walk" Made People's Memories More Positive
Walking in a more happy style could help counter the negative mental processes associated with depression. That's according to psychologists in Germany and Canada who used biofeedback to influence the walking style of 47 university students on a treadmill....
- Women's True Maths Skills Unlocked By Pretending To Be Someone Else
There's an unfounded gender stereotype that says women aren't as good at maths as men. Reminding them of this prior to a maths task usually undermines their performance - just one example of a harmful phenomenon known as stereotype threat. Research...
- The Hillary Clinton Effect - How Role Models Work For Some People But Not Others
The benefits, or not, of reading about Ms Clinton Fear of prejudice can adversely affect people's performance. For example, female participants reminded of the stereotype that women are innately inferior at maths compared to men, subsequently...
- Gender Stereotypes Can Distort Our Memories
Plenty of research has shown that some stereotypes are not only offensive, they can also have a detrimental effect on people's behaviour. For example, women's maths performance suffers after they are reminded of the stereotype that men are better...
- Our Need To Know Ourselves Can Sour Unexpected Success
Our need to feel as though we know ourselves is so strong that unexpected success can leave us feeling anxious and undermine our future performance. That's according to Jason Plaks and Kristin Stecher who looked specifically at the issue of whether...
Neuroscience
Sitting upright is psychologically good for men, but is it good for women?
Stop slouching! Sitting with an upright posture can have a positive effect on your mood and improve your performance at a maths test, but only if you are male. That's the implication of a study by Tomi-Ann Roberts and Yousef Arefi-Afshar at Colorado College in America.Sixty undergrads completed an intelligence test before being asked to assume either a slumped or upright posture for three minutes. During this time they were given fictitious feedback on the intelligence test, indicating they had scored in the top 25 per cent of all previous test takers. Returning to their natural posture, they then completed mood questionnaires and a maths test.
Among the men, those who'd been instructed to sit upright subsequently scored better at the maths test, reported being in a more positive mood, and being happier with their intelligence test performance, than did the men who'd been told to sit slumped.
The opposite pattern was true among the women – those who'd been in a slumped position were happier with their IQ test performance and did better at the later maths test, than did the women who'd sat upright.
Why the gender difference? The researchers speculated that because of the gendered culture we live in, the women may have felt more natural in slumped position which is associated with lower status. Also, they said the act of sitting upright and pushing their chests forward may have made the women, but not the men, feel self-conscious.
The idea that our posture can affect our emotions is consistent with other research showing that pulling various facial expressions can alter our mood – for example smiling can make us feel happier (link is to pdf).
_________________________________
Roberts, T-A. & Arefi-Afshar, Y. (2007). Not all who stand tall are proud: Gender differences in the proprioceptive effects of upright posture. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 714-727.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Doing The "happy Walk" Made People's Memories More Positive
Walking in a more happy style could help counter the negative mental processes associated with depression. That's according to psychologists in Germany and Canada who used biofeedback to influence the walking style of 47 university students on a treadmill....
- Women's True Maths Skills Unlocked By Pretending To Be Someone Else
There's an unfounded gender stereotype that says women aren't as good at maths as men. Reminding them of this prior to a maths task usually undermines their performance - just one example of a harmful phenomenon known as stereotype threat. Research...
- The Hillary Clinton Effect - How Role Models Work For Some People But Not Others
The benefits, or not, of reading about Ms Clinton Fear of prejudice can adversely affect people's performance. For example, female participants reminded of the stereotype that women are innately inferior at maths compared to men, subsequently...
- Gender Stereotypes Can Distort Our Memories
Plenty of research has shown that some stereotypes are not only offensive, they can also have a detrimental effect on people's behaviour. For example, women's maths performance suffers after they are reminded of the stereotype that men are better...
- Our Need To Know Ourselves Can Sour Unexpected Success
Our need to feel as though we know ourselves is so strong that unexpected success can leave us feeling anxious and undermine our future performance. That's according to Jason Plaks and Kristin Stecher who looked specifically at the issue of whether...