Reading People Depends on Identifying Body Language

While we have been focusing on microexpressions, reading people often depends on identifying their body language as well. Humintell’s Dr. David Matsumoto has done exciting work on the role of body language in human communication and the extent to which similar patterns span cultures. As we’ve noted, it is necessary to disentangle what expressions are…

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Do Power Postures Work?

It is pretty popular for people to explore the idea of taking power postures to achieve success in interpersonal interactions, especially negotiations, but is it empirically valid? A recent study by Drs. Joseph Cesario and David Johnson wades into this debate with a resounding rejection of the idea of power postures’ efficacy. In a series…

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The Role of Powerful Postures in Everyday Interaction

Reading people is more than just gesture and expression. It also involves posture. This blog tends to focus primarily on gestures and expressions, and we have delved only occasionally into the importance of posture in expressing or detecting various affective states. However, in a comprehensive review of research on nonverbal postures, Dr. Amy Cuddy and…

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