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Better Reading Body Language

While we have been focusing on microexpressions, reading people often depends on identifying their body language as well.

Humintell’s Dr. David Matsumoto has done exciting work on the role of body language in human communication and the extent to which similar patterns span cultures. As we’ve noted, it is necessary to disentangle what expressions are universal from those that differ based on culture, and in this respect body language is no different.

A recent article in Discover Magazine dug well into some of Dr. Matsumoto’s past work on body language and posture. Specifically, author Teal Burrell discussed Dr. Matsumoto’s work on the postures of Olympic and blind Paralympic athletes from around the world. This research found that, regardless of sight, victorious athletes consistently made the same posture of triumph.

While powerfully demonstrating universals across cultures, this same research also pointed to the role of culture. For example, defeated athletes often slump their shoulders in shame, but this is less common for those from cultures which discourage outward displays of shame. However, blind athletes from those same countries slumped their shoulders regardless of culture.

This helps show both a tendency to slump shoulders in shame but also the ability of culture to teach people to avoid that form of expression.

Dr. Matsumoto’s research underscores the importance of body language in understanding people and the culture that influences them. As the magazine piece continues, we can leverage our body language to make positive impacts on our own mood.

For instance, smiling may help reduce our stress levels, while so-called “power postures” can improve our confidence. A power posture, as we have blogged on before, is when the chest is thrust out with arms crossed, in a way that Burrell aptly describes as a “Wonder Woman” pose. Research into power postures does find that they lead to a great sense of power, but still such correlations can be taken with a grain of salt.

Body language isn’t just about changing how we feel but can also shape people’s perceptions of us. Eye contact, though not really an indicator of deception, helps promote a perception of trust. Similarly, mirroring posture and facial expressions helps show that we are listening and feeling empathetic.

This helps show how important body language is for us, but like many universal expressions, humans are not alone in our use of such communicative tools. In fact, Burrell points out how critical body language is for bees to communicate, and similar sorts of communicative dances are present among fish. Similarly, the highly intelligent ravens use their beaks to point and gesture, helping to form interpersonal bonds.

Coming to grips with how universal and powerful body language is is as important as understanding how culture mediates it. By better understanding both determinants of behavior, we can learn how to read people better and communicate effectively.

Do Power Postures Work?

It is pretty popular for people to explore the idea of taking power postures to achieve success in interpersonal interactions, especially negotiations, but is it empirically valid?

A recent study by Drs. Joseph Cesario and David Johnson wades into this debate with a resounding rejection of the idea of power postures’ efficacy. In a series of experimental studies, they test whether taking a power posture in realistic situations accomplishes anything. Their null results fly in the face of some established precedent.

Humintell has previously blogged on power postures, including on research finding that taking on such postures can make people feel more powerful. It is logical to assume that such a feeling will manifest in more confident behavior, but it is likely this implication that Drs. Cesario and Johnson would dispute. In fact, they situate their research as a response to the same work by Cuddy which we blogged on!

Despite the popularity of TED talks devoted to power posturing, the current study delves into the evolutionary arguments in favor of power posturing. They conclude that it would make little evolutionary sense for an animal to act differently just because it is presenting the illusion of expansiveness or power.

In order to assess these claims, they conducted a series of experiments. The first of these asked participants to watch a TED talk video on power poses and attempt to consciously hold power poses.  These were contrasted with two studies where participants were not told why they should hold such a pose, and two of these studies were conducted with multiple participants in the same room.

Each participant was then brought together to compete in various tasks involving gambling, abstract thinking, and negotiation. These were intended to see if using the power pose would actually enhance abilities or competence in any of these tasks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they found that the participants who had been exposed to the TED talk did reliably utilize the power posture in these exercises.

Overall, there did not seem to be any evidence that power poses had beneficial effects. This should cast doubt on a lot of the established literature. The study authors note that their sample sizes were generally larger and that there were consistent problems in replicated past findings.

They even asked participants to record whether their power pose led them to feel greater senses of power, and this again failed to predict much success in terms of outcomes.

This is an exciting and emerging field of research, so it is pretty natural that there would be disparate results and contradictory findings. We are definitely hoping that future researchers continue to delve into this question!

In the meantime, there are some pretty tried and true tactics for better negotiating and reading people. Check out some of our training tools here!