When you were growing up, your mother probably told you to sit up straight, because good posture helps you look confident and make a good impression. And now it turns out that sitting up straight can also improve how you feel about yourself, according to a study in the October 2009 issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology. Researchers asked college students to rate themselves on how good they would be as job candidates and employees. Those told to sit up straight with their chests out gave themselves higher ratings than those instructed to slouch while filling out the rating form. Once again, Mom was right.

This article was originally published with the title Stop Slouching!.

6 Comments

1. 1. AAkutagawa 04:49 PM 4/25/10

   Sitting up with an upright posture increases bloodflow to the brain, improving mental state of being and oxygenation of critical cortical faculties involved with perception of subjective experience.
   
   Andrea Akutagawa
   http://liberate.it/

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2. 2. Johnay 10:20 AM 4/28/10

   I haven't read the whole article, so I don't know if this is addressed, but it occurs to me that the link between the posture subjects were instructed to take on and their self-ratings could be cultural.

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3. 3. skippylynn 10:04 PM 4/28/10

   It takes muscle strength and vigor to hold one's head up and sit up straight. Upright posture is an indicator of strength, energy, alertness, and good health. Slumping indicates the lack of those attributes.

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4. 4. inertiadoo 10:36 PM 4/28/10

   I have not read the article yet, but recall my years in the Army,
   when a proper uniform and correct military posture really did improve my self esteem.

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5. 5. Polite430 01:45 AM 4/29/10

   The journal article: Body posture effects on self-evaluation: A self-validation approach by Pablo Brino, Richard Petty, and Benjamin Wagner.
   "As predicted, body posture had a significant effect on thought confidence. Specifically, upright postures were associated
   with greater confidence...than were slouched postures"

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6. 6. choppam 09:52 AM 4/29/10

   There's a difference between a good healthy posture and an uptight ramrod.
   The ramrod stiff, chest puffed out position is crippling. It creates enormous stress on the body, especially the spine, and blocks its relaxed natural functioning. Any athlete can tell you that. Wilhelm Reich - a much-maligned psychologist - worked all his life to loosen up what he called the "body armour" encasing most of his patients. This armour is a sure sign of an authoritarian social setting and rigid(ified) attitudes.
   Good healthy posture is what our bodies are designed for. The body stands upright of its own accord if we let it. If we use the muscles of our lower back and chest to "consciously" hold ourselves up then this natural capability atrophies. Resulting in straightening followed either by sit-all-day slouching or the rigidity of a tin soldier.
   The rich and royal, by the way, make sure their whelps get years of training in standing up straight and walking so they can a) project impressive confidence (as the article says) and b) subject their bodies to as little wear and tear as possible during all the walkabouts and hanging around at cocktail parties they have to do.
   In Sweden, where I live, it's taken them 7 long years to train the common-as-muck personal trainer boyfriend of the heiress to the throne so he can walk properly as her consort.

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