In 2012, social psychologist Amy Cuddy delivered one of the most watched TED Talks in history: "Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are." Over 60 million views. The core claim: holding an expansive, "high power" posture for just two minutes before a stressful event increases testosterone, decreases cortisol, and makes you feel and perform more confidently.

Then the controversy hit. A high-profile failed replication attempt in 2015 called the hormonal effects into question. Dana Carney, Cuddy's original co-author, publicly distanced herself from the work.

The internet declared power posing dead.

The truth — as it usually does in psychology — sits in a more nuanced, more interesting place.

What Cuddy's Original Research Actually Claimed

The 2010 paper "Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance" (Carney, Cuddy, & Yap) made three primary claims:

  1. Holding expansive, open postures for 2 minutes increases testosterone levels
  2. Holding expansive, open postures for 2 minutes decreases cortisol levels
  3. This hormonal shift produces changes in feelings of power and risk tolerance

The initial results were striking enough to generate the viral TED Talk and massive mainstream attention.

The Replication Crisis and What Failed

In 2015, Eva Ranehill and colleagues conducted a large replication study (N=200, compared to Cuddy's original N=42). They found:

  • No significant effect on testosterone or cortisol
  • Subjective feelings of power did increase with expansive postures

This is a crucial distinction: the hormonal claims failed to replicate. The subjective experience claims held up.

Dana Carney formally disavowed the hormonal claims in 2016, stating she no longer believed the original findings were reliable.

Amy Cuddy maintained (and continues to maintain) that the effect on subjective feelings of confidence and power is real and replicable, even if the hormonal mechanism is not the right explanation.

What the Science Actually Shows

After a decade of research, meta-analyses, and ongoing study, here's what the evidence reliably supports:

Supported: Posture affects subjective feelings
Multiple studies confirm that expansive, open postures produce subjective feelings of confidence, power, and positive emotion compared to contracted, closed postures. This effect is robust across studies.

A 2018 meta-analysis published in Psychological Bulletin (Gronau et al.) analyzed 55 studies and found significant effects of expansive posture on self-reported power and confidence, while finding weaker evidence for the hormonal claims.

Uncertain: The hormonal mechanism
The testosterone/cortisol shift is the most contested element. Some studies support it; many don't replicate it. The effect, if real, may be smaller, more context-dependent, or mediated by different factors than originally claimed.

Supported: Postural feedback on emotion (embodied cognition)
The broader principle — that body position influences emotional state through bidirectional mind-body feedback — has substantial evidence outside of the specific power poses context. William James proposed this in the 1890s ("We don't tremble because we're afraid; we're afraid because we tremble"). Decades of embodied cognition research supports the basic principle.

Supported: How others perceive expansive posture
Regardless of internal hormonal effects, research consistently shows that expansive, open posture is perceived by others as more dominant, confident, and competent. This effect on external perception is robust across studies — and arguably more relevant for social and attraction contexts than internal hormonal changes.

The Practical Verdict

Here's what the evidence, in totality, justifies:

You should care about your posture. It reliably affects:
- How others perceive you (dominant, competent, confident vs. anxious, low-status, uncertain)
- How you feel about yourself (expansive postures consistently produce more positive subjective states)
- Your physical health over time (poor posture has measurable musculoskeletal consequences)

The dramatic claims (2 minutes changes your hormones and transforms your performance) are not reliably supported. The effect exists, but it's likely smaller, more situational, and differently mediated than the original TED Talk suggested.

The useful practice remains valid: Before high-stakes situations — a job interview, a difficult conversation, a date — spending a few minutes in an expansive, open posture probably does make you feel slightly more confident. Whether this is hormonal, placebo, or simply the result of occupying your physical space in a way that's unfamiliar and slightly activating, the practical effect appears real.

What Power Poses Actually Look Like

The postures used in Cuddy's research fall into two categories:

High power (expansive):
- Standing with feet wide, hands on hips ("Wonder Woman" pose)
- Leaning back in a chair with hands behind head and feet on desk
- Standing with arms spread wide, chest open
- Any posture that occupies more space, opens the chest, and positions the spine upright

Low power (contracted):
- Crossed arms, shoulders hunched
- Making yourself small — occupying minimal space
- Head down, chest caved in
- Hunched sitting positions with crossed legs

The research used 2 minutes in these positions specifically — but the practical implication is about your resting default posture, not ritualistic pre-event posing.

The More Important Lesson: Your Default Posture

The power poses research, controversy and all, usefully directs attention to something that matters independently of the specific claims: your habitual, resting posture is communicating something at every moment.

If your default posture is contracted — shoulders forward, chest caved, head slightly down, spine curved — you are chronically projecting low confidence, low status, and low energy to everyone you interact with. You are also chronically receiving the physiological signals of that posture (reduced lung capacity, altered spinal alignment, potentially suppressed neuroendocrine function).

If your default posture is open and upright — shoulders back, chest open, spine elongated, chin parallel to the floor — you are projecting the opposite at every moment, and receiving the physiological feedback of that expanded, open position.

This is not about power posing before events. It's about what you're doing 16 hours a day when no one has told you to "power pose."

For the complete guide to building better default posture, read our guide to walking with confidence and our full body language guide.

Building Confidence Beyond Posture

Even setting aside the power poses debate, the research on confidence consistently shows that posture is one component of a larger system:

Physiological contributors to confidence:
- Sleep (confidence is measurably impaired by sleep deprivation)
- Exercise (regular training produces durable increases in confidence through multiple mechanisms)
- Grooming and presentation (looking your best affects internal confidence)
- Posture and body language (the bidirectional feedback loop)

Psychological contributors:
- A track record of follow-through (confidence is built through kept promises to yourself)
- Acceptance rather than suppression of anxiety (paradoxically increases functional confidence)
- Reduced approval-seeking behavior (external validation is an unreliable confidence source)

Behavioral contributors:
- Progressive exposure to feared situations (graduated challenge builds confidence in specific domains)
- Skill development (competence-based confidence is the most durable form)
- Consistent, intentional action in the direction of your values

The glow up framework in our complete transformation guide addresses all of these simultaneously.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Should I do power poses before stressful events?
Probably not as a primary strategy, but if it helps you mentally prepare and feel slightly more grounded — there's no harm in it. The evidence doesn't support a dramatic hormonal transformation, but a few minutes of deliberate expansive posture may produce enough subjective shift to be worth it as part of a preparation routine.

Q: Does this mean body language doesn't matter?
The opposite. The collapse of the specific hormonal claim doesn't invalidate the broader reality that posture and body language matter enormously — for how others perceive you, and for how you feel. The lesson from the power poses controversy is that science is self-correcting, not that the body-mind connection is fictional.

Q: What's the most important posture habit for daily life?
Upright, open default posture — shoulders back and down, chest open, spine elongated. Not a rigid military posture, but a relaxed upright position. This is the most impactful posture habit, practiced consistently through the day, and it produces more cumulative benefit than any pre-event ritual.

Q: Can poor posture affect your attractiveness?
Yes, significantly. Research on physical attractiveness and posture consistently shows that upright, open posture increases attractiveness ratings. The mechanism is partly evolutionary (upright posture signals health and vitality) and partly social (it signals confidence and social ease).

Q: How long does it take to change default posture?
With daily conscious practice, most people notice meaningful improvement in 4–8 weeks. Complete automatization of new postural habits typically takes 3–6 months. Physical training of the posterior chain muscles (upper back, glutes) is often necessary because weak muscles make good posture physically uncomfortable to maintain.

Conclusion: The Real Power Is in the Habit

Amy Cuddy's research, stripped of its most dramatic claims, still points to something true: how you physically hold yourself in the world affects how you experience it — and how it experiences you.

The power poses controversy is a lesson in scientific humility, not a reason to dismiss the importance of your body's role in your confidence, presence, and attractiveness. The posture habits you build today are working for (or against) you at every moment.

Build the right ones.

→ Download Free: Body Language Cheat Sheet — 21 Attraction Signals Decoded

References: Carney DR, Cuddy AJC, Yap AJ. (2010). Power posing: Brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science. | Gronau QF, et al. (2017). A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power posing literature. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology. | Ranehill E, et al. (2015). Assessing the robustness of power posing: No effect on hormones and risk tolerance in a large sample of men and women. Psychological Science.