The Effects of Posture on Self-Perceived Leadership
Sarah L. Arnette, Terry F. Pettijohn II

Abstract
Humans express and perceive the moods and thoughts of others through the posture that they exhibit. But can the postures individuals maintain determine their own leadership perceptions? The results of this study confirmed the prediction that posing in a positive, upright posture lead individuals to rate themselves higher in leadership than posing in a negative, slouched posture. Participants (N = 42) who posed in the positive posture consistently chose seats closer to the head of the table on a chair circling task while participants in the negative posture condition chose seats further from the head of the table, indicative of a lesser sense of leadership. These findings suggest that embodiment extends into cognitive processing; effecting the thoughts and feelings an individual has concerning his or her leadership. Maintaining an upright position may bolster individual leadership perceptions before important interviews, meetings, tasks, and decisions.

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