Open or closed body posture makes a difference.

NLP trainers have known for some time and common sense tells you that posture plays an important role in determining whether people act as though they are really in charge. Research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University confirms that “posture expansiveness,” or positioning yourself in a way that opens up the body to take up more space, creates a sense of power that produces behavioral changes in a person independent of their actual rank or hierarchical role in an organization. Indeed, these study findings demonstrate that posture may be more significant to a person’s psychological manifestations of power than their title or rank.

“Going into the research we figured role would make a big difference, but shockingly the effect of posture dominated the effect of role in each and every study,” Kellogg PhD candidate Li Huang said.

Apparently, how you sit and stand makes a significant difference in how you act and how others act toward you. No surprise there, I hope. Still, if you want to get something done, position your body in an open way – legs apart or crossed ankle over thigh – arms spread to the sides or above shoulder height – as you would if you were sprawled on a sofa with your arms across the sofa back. The opposite body posture would be closed, in which legs are tightly pressed together and arms are held close to the body in front or back.

Submissive body posture reminds me of my military postures in which arms are held rigidly tight against the body. A more aggressive body posture would include standing erect, chest out, shoulders back, arms on hips to make the upper arms fold outward. Think about the Army drill instructor chewing out a new recruit. These would be extreme examples of the body postures involved, but you get the idea.

So, the next time you face your boss for a pay raise, make sure you do so with open body posture. Don’t do the drill instructor bit, though…

“With 1.9 million new jobs on the horizon this year, our research suggests that your posture may be quite literally the way to put your best foot forward in a job interview,” said Standford PhD candidate Lucia Galinsky.

“Powerful Postures Versus Powerful Roles: Which Is the Proximate Correlate of Thought and Behavior?” and appears in the January 2011 issue of Psychological Science. Research was led by Kellogg School of Management professor Adam Galinsky and PhD candidate Li Huang, along with Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Deborah Gruenfeld and PhD candidate Lucia Guillory.