Stand Up To Increase Feelings Of Closeness – How To Use Body Posture To Influence Perception
Christopher Philip
Researchers Alexander Tomei and Jeremy Grivel have added to the body of knowledge regarding posture and it’s affect on our moods, thoughts and feelings.
In their study they found that subjects, when viewing a dance performance while standing, experienced far greater feelings of closeness than those who viewed the same performance while sitting.
The study was careful to mitigate differences between physical closeness that may have resulted from standing versus sitting. “[A]lthough no active physical movement is made to reduce the physical distance between the observer and the object of interest, adopting an upright standing pose induces a reduction of social distance,” say the researchers in their paper
In a replication of the study in a lab setting, similar effects were found. This time the researchers were able to show a relationship between feelings of closeness through standing as well as heart rate. Those who stood, as expected, had a much higher heart rate than those who sat suggesting that this served to strengthen the feelings of closeness.
“We attribute this result to the fact that standing up in social situations embodies the
anticipation of connecting to others,” say the researchers. “Standing up represents the preliminary stage in the process of reducing physical distance that separates us from something or someone. It has been shown that physical distance and psychological distance are related. By priming the individual with a standing posture, the individual embodies the expectancy of closing up with the observed target.”
Image Credit: Matteo Artizzu
Resources
Tomei, Alexander and Jeremy Grivel. Body Posture and the Feeling of Social Closeness: An Exploratory Study in a Naturalistic Setting. Current Psychology. 2019. 33:35–46
DOI 10.1007/s12144-013-9194-1