Body Language Correlation With Self-Confidence - Essay Sample

The body language of a person can influence how other people view him/her. Furthermore, body language can also change how a person views himself/herself. According to Amy Cuddy, a psychologist that was interviewed at the Ted-Talks show, power-posing or standing in a confident posture even when a person is not feeling confident can boost feelings of self-confidence CITATION Kat16 \l 1033 (Noel, 2016). Furthermore, it can elevate an individuals chances of becoming successful. Confidence is a core factor that enables people to succeed in their lives. Plausibly, body language has a direct correlation of a persons self-confidence and his/her ability to attain excellence in all his/her undertakings.

Body Language Correlation with Self-Confidence

Good posture enables people to improve how they view themselves. Additionally, past research has shown that people who sit in an upright posture are more likely to recall positive thoughts CITATION Vee \l 1033 (Veenstra, Schneider, & Koole, 2017). Moreover, such persons tend to have a stronger sense of self-image and also stronger spines - in the medical perspective. On the other hand, people who spend long hours sitting or slouching on their work desks are normally stressed and uncomfortable with themselves most of the times. Subsequently, such forms of stress impact their self-perception negatively. Also, clinically, such individuals weaken their chest muscles and contribute to their attainment of chronic pain.

Sitting or standing with an expansive posture, which is wide open as well as tall, has been associated with the feelings and perceptions of power, control, and confidence, especially during decision making. Additionally, this argument can be supported by research done by Brinol, Petty, and Wagner (2009). Moreover, the research portrayed that people who take an expansive posture are significantly capable of expressing positive opinions of their prospects CITATION Bri09 \l 1033 (Brinol, Petty, & Wagner, 2009). Subsequently, this generates the attainment of a positive outlook towards challenges that such persons may encounter in their day-to-day lives.

Gesturing with hands up symbolizes confidence. Additionally, this hypothesis can be supported by research that was executed by Bianca Malaika Ciuffan (2017). Furthermore, the research portrayed that leaders who use hand gestures when addressing their personnel secure a high level of satisfaction in the jobs. Moreover, according to the research, such satisfaction among the managers reinforces their confidence as leaders of their organizations (Ciuffan, 2017). Furthermore, according to the research, hand gestures as a primary component of body language reaffirms an individuals sense of authority over others in their social or professional environment (Ciuffan, 2017).

Sitting up straight promotes an individuals confidence in his/her thoughts. Additionally, this argument can be supported by research that was performed by Professor Richard Petty (2009), a psychologist and a professor at the Ohio State University (Grabmeier, 2009). Furthermore, according to the research, sitting up straight enables an individual to believe his/her thoughts (Grabmeier, 2009). Also, the research stated that persons who sit up straight are more likely to believe the thoughts they write down concerning their qualifications for a job position (Grabmeier, 2009). Additionally, in the research, 71 participants took part in the study, and they affirmed the hypothesis that a sitting posture could influence a persons thoughts (Grabmeier, 2009).

Using gestures, as a form of body language improves the peoples ability to express themselves verbally as confident individuals. Additionally, this argument can be supported by research that was performed by Cook, Yip, and Goldin-Meadow (2012). Moreover, the research evidenced that using gestures aids in lightening the working memory load in a person when he/she is offering mathematical explanations (Cook, Yip & Goldin-Meadow, 2012). Also, from this finding in the research, people should be encouraged to use meaningful gestures when offering explanations. Additionally, this is because it enables persons to externalize as well as visualize some of the information they want to explain and as a result, they become more confident in their communication process.

Counter Argument

The action of the brain is the primary factor that promotes confidence in an individual. Additionally, despite the numerous research that links confidence to good posture, some philosophers have theorized that a persons confidence is influenced by his/her thought patterns in the brain. For instance, according to Whiteman (2016), a person can train or manipulate his/her brain to secure self-confidence CITATION Hon16 \l 1033 (Whiteman, 2016). Also, according to Longworth et al. (2016), depression or anxiety due to brain problems can alter a persons level of self-esteem. Ultimately, these arguments strive to justify that peoples confidence is not influenced by body language but by the action of the brain.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a persons body language has a direct correlation to his/her persons self-confidence and his/her ability to attain excellence in all his/her undertakings. Additionally, this argument can be supported by reason that good posture enables people to improve how they view themselves. Also, sitting or standing with an expansive posture has been linked with the feelings and perceptions of power, control, and confidence, especially during decision making. Furthermore, gesturing with hands up symbolizes confidence. Moreover, sitting up straight promotes an individuals confidence in his/her thoughts. Also, using gestures, as a form of body language improves the peoples ability to express themselves verbally as confident individuals. Nevertheless, some scientists make a counterargument of this theory by theorizing that the action of the brain is the primary factor that promotes confidence in an individual

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Brinol, P., Petty, R. E., & Wagner, B. (2009). Body posture effects on self-evaluation: A self-validation approach. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39(6), 10531064.

Ciuffani, B. M. (2017). Non - verbal Communication and Leadership The impact of hand gestures used by leaders on follower job satisfaction. The 9th IBA Bachelor Thesis Conference: University of Twente, The Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social sciences., 1-16.

Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2012). Gestures, but not meaningless movements, lighten working memory load when explaining math. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27(4), 594-610.

Grabmeier, J. (2009). Study: Body Posture Affects Confidence In Your Own Thoughts. Retrieved from The Ohio State University: https://news.osu.edu/news/2009/10/05/posture/

Longworth, C., Joseph Dakins, D. R., & Gracey, F. (2016). The nature of self-esteem and its relationship to anxiety and depression in adult acquired brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation An International Journal, 31, 1-17.

Noel, K. (2016). 8 body language tricks to instantly appear more confident. Retrieved from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/body-language-tricks-appear-more-confident-2016-3?IR=T

Veenstra, L., Schneider, I. K., & Koole, S. L. (2017). Embodied mood regulation: the impact of body posture on mood recovery, negative thoughts, and mood-congruent recall. Cognition and Emotion, 31(7), 1361-1376.

Whiteman, H. (2016). Training the brain to boost self-confidence. Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314777.php