Embodied mood regulation: the impact of body posture on mood recovery, negative thoughts, and mood-congruent recall

Previous work has shown that a stooped posture may activate negative mood. Extending this work, the present experiments examine how stooped body posture influences recovery from pre-existing negative mood. In Experiment 1 (n = 229), participants were randomly assigned to receive either a negative or neutral mood induction, after which participants were instructed to take either a stooped, straight, or control posture while writing down their thoughts. Stooped posture (compared to straight or control postures) led to less mood recovery in the negative mood condition, and more negative mood in the neutral mood condition. Furthermore, stooped posture led to more negative thoughts overall compared to straight or control postures. In Experiment 2 (n = 122), all participants underwent a negative mood induction, after which half received cognitive reappraisal instructions and half received no instructions. Mood-congruent cognitions were assessed through autobiographical memory recall. Again, stooped (compared to straight) position led to less mood recovery. Notably, this was independent of regulation instruction. These findings demonstrate for the first time that posture plays an important role in recovering from negative mood.过往研究已证实，佝偻姿势可唤起消极情绪。本研究在此基础上，通过两项实验探究佝偻体态对已存在的消极情绪恢复过程的影响。实验一（有效被试量n=229）中，被试被随机分配至消极情绪诱发（mood induction）组或中性情绪诱发组；随后，要求被试分别采取佝偻姿势、挺直姿势或对照姿势，并写下自身想法。相较于挺直姿势与对照姿势，佝偻姿势在消极情绪诱发组中会抑制情绪恢复，而在中性情绪诱发组中则会加剧个体的消极情绪体验；此外，相较于挺直与对照姿势，佝偻姿势总体上会引发更多消极想法。实验二（n=122）中，所有被试均接受消极情绪诱发，随后一半被试接受认知重评（cognitive reappraisal）指导，另一半被试则未获得任何指导；研究通过自传体记忆（autobiographical memory）回忆任务评估情绪一致性认知（mood-congruent cognitions）。结果再次显示，相较于挺直姿势，佝偻姿势仍会抑制情绪恢复，且该效应不受情绪调节指导的影响。本研究首次证实，体态在消极情绪恢复过程中发挥着关键作用。