Embodied Attraction: Can Body Postures Influence Attraction?

Attraction researchers have identified nonverbal positions people in relationships subconsciously take to express their feelings, while social embodiment or embodied cognition researchers have identified various body positions that can temporarily affect mood. This study brings together both fields in establishing an embodiment effect with two nonverbal positions identified in past research to express interpersonal attraction: Lean and body posture. Participants interacted with a video-taped confederate in a mock closed-circuit television setting while induced into either a forward lean with an open body posture or a backward lean with a closed body posture. Results show that leaning forward more significantly decreased attraction through mediation by greater unhappiness. Having a more open body posture was not found to be a variable influencing attraction directly, but in an interaction with type of inducement into positions, it did increase attraction through mediations by lesser unhappiness and by lesser depression.