Amy Cuddy

Dana Carney, lead author of the 2010 paper, publicly stated in 2016 that she no longer believed 'power posing' effects were real in the broad form originally presented. Critical statistical analyses also challenged the literature. Cuddy rejected the idea that the entire phenomenon had been 'debunked' and refocused her defence on psychological effects, notably feelings of power.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A 2015 paper involving Cuddy proposed that posture adopted before an interview influenced non-verbal 'presence' and assessed performance. In 2018, the Journal of Applied Psychology published a correction notably concerning degrees of freedom, mediation wording and statistical coefficients.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

A replication study conducted with a much larger sample failed to reproduce the effects of 'power posing' on testosterone, cortisol or risk tolerance. It did find an effect on subjective feelings of power. The result triggered a major public debate over the reliability of the original conclusions and their popularisation.

State of the evidence

Documented

The 2010 study co-authored by Amy Cuddy, Dana Carney and Andy Yap claimed that two minutes of expansive body postures increased testosterone, lowered cortisol, strengthened feelings of power and increased risk-taking. With only 42 participants, these striking results subsequently became central to the replication crisis in social psychology.

Attribution

Directly implicated