Power Posing Boosts Hormones
False Assumption: Adopting expansive 'high-power' poses for minutes raises testosterone, lowers cortisol, and enhances risk-taking and power.
Written by FARAgent on February 09, 2026
Amy Cuddy's 2010 paper and blockbuster TED talk lit the fuse in 2012, urging bathroom-stall Rocky poses for hormonal hacks toward promotions; millions bought in, her book soared, social psych's punchy allure at peak.
Replications crashed the party by 2015, nulling hormones and behavior while salvaging mere self-reported confidence; the original's first author recanted, dooming bold claims to yawn-worthy feelings alone amid replication crisis.
Consensus now strongly rejects physiological effects, a stark reminder of small-sample hype's fragility; the comedy lies in experts peddling two-minute fixes for life's grind, only for science to shrink it to posture pep-talks.
People Involved
- In the early 2010s, Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist at Harvard, promoted the idea of power posing with enthusiasm. She delivered a TED talk in 2012 that garnered millions of views and wrote a bestselling book on the subject. Cuddy believed the poses could transform lives by altering hormones and boosting confidence. [1] Her efforts spread the assumption far and wide, though she acted in good faith. Later, replications failed to support the claims, and the idea crumbled.
- Meanwhile, Dana Carney, the first author of the original 2010 paper, turned against it. By 2016, Carney publicly stated she no longer believed the effects were real. She warned others to approach the research with skepticism, acting as a lone voice of doubt amid the hype. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (2)
“Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on “power posing” became one of the most-watched talks in the history of the platform.”— Psychology’s Greatest Misses (Part 1/3)
“the first author on the original paper—not the senior person, with the TED talk and best-seller—wrote, “I do not believe that ‘power pose’ effects are real.””— Psychology’s Greatest Misses (Part 1/3)
The Foundation
The assumption rested on a 2010 paper published in Psychological Science. It reported that holding expansive poses for two minutes raised testosterone levels and lowered cortisol in participants. The study used small samples, forty-two people in total, and claimed these changes led to greater risk-taking and feelings of power. [1] At the time, before the replication crisis gripped psychology, such findings seemed credible. Experts accepted them as evidence of embodied cognition. But larger studies followed, and they failed to replicate the results. By the mid-2010s, the hormonal effects were shown to be nonexistent. The behavioral claims held up weakly at best, but the core idea was wrong. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“The 2010 paper on which the talk was based says that “…posing in displays of power caused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes”— Psychology’s Greatest Misses (Part 1/3)
How It Spread
The idea took off rapidly after Amy Cuddy's TED talk went viral in 2012. Viewers shared it across social media, and it amassed over sixty million views. Her 2015 book, Presence, sold widely and reinforced the message in self-help circles. [1] Media outlets amplified the story, featuring power posing in articles and TV segments. Academics cited the original paper without question, and workshops taught the technique to executives and students. Funding flowed to related research, while skeptics faced dismissal. Only after failed replications piled up did the propagation slow. By then, the assumption had embedded itself in popular culture, a testament to unchecked enthusiasm. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“The inevitable book would become an international best-seller.”— Psychology’s Greatest Misses (Part 1/3)
Sources
- [1]