Supine Body Posture Reduces Aggression
Christopher Philip
It’s well understood that facial expressions are tied directly to specific emotions. Facial expressions have been shown to affect emotional judgment and memories. It has also been shown that modifying body postures, modify behaviour. For example, research has shown that slumped postures produce “helpless behaviour.”
In the eye of researchers Eddie Harmon-Jones and Carly Peterson, Texas A&M University published in Psychological Science “Lying flat on one’s back may be antithetical to approach motivation (i.e., the urge to move toward something).”
In their paper, they sought to address the implications of a supine posture on neural processing. The brain-posture coupling, called “embodiment” is an area of research that is providing fruitful discoveries as to how our minds and bodies function.
According to over 15 studies using EEG’s or electroencephalographic and rTMS repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) which measure brain activity it has been determined that certain areas light up during aggression. Specifically, the left prefrontal cortex is much more active when experiencing anger, than is the right prefrontal cortex.
The Experiment
The current experiment wished to test the correlation between body posture and its reaction to negative experiences in order better examine the brain-body interplay.
The study tracked 46 participants in total. Initially, they had students write a persuasive essay representing their thought on smoking in public. After completing the essay it was evaluated and the results reported back to them. The subjects where then attached to EEG sensors while their results where read back to them. Naturally, the assessment of their report where fabricated.
All participants in the reclined condition and half those in the upright condition heard pre-recorded negative ratings on their essay and their personality. In the neutral-upright condition, participants heard a slightly positive rating.
The Results
The results confirmed their hypothesis. There was greater left frontal cortical activity in the upright-insult condition compared to the neutral-upright condition. Thus, when people lie down flat, their ability or desire to become aggressive is diminished.
Why psychotherapist advise clients to lie down and express themselves, it perhaps has roots in this tie. Lying down reduces anger and may provide a person with the motivation and relaxation required to deal with their issues with a lowered guard.
The results are predicted based on evolutionary theory. When you’re lying down, you’re likely getting ready to sleep or relax, but more than this, you might have suffered a major blow from a competitor who has knocked you to the ground. As you’ve already suffered in the battle, it only makes sense to stay down. Perhaps the supine posture and the relaxation effects it has on the brain is an evolutionary adaptation to reduce further harm.
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Resources
Eddie Harmon-Jones and Carly K. Peterson. Supine Body Position Reduces
Neural Response to Anger. Association for Psychological Science. 2019; 20 (10): 1209-1210.
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