Are you wondering how good posture affects your personality? Good posture is important for a wide range of different reasons. Poor posture can lead to many health issues, which have all been well documented. What is less talked about is how posture affects your personality.
That’s what we wanted to take a closer look at here. We’ll look at the relationship between posture and personality, and see why good posture is so important. Let’s get started!
What Is the Relationship Between Posture and Personality?
Personality and posture have a very intricate relationship with each other. Our posture is a result and representation of our personality. Posture is taken as a nonverbal communication that conveys our personality and tells other people a lot about us.
This is called involuntary communication, which happens silently via our body language. Along with personality, our posture also tells our emotional state. The way we move when in front of people, in private, and how we hold ourselves, has a great impact on our physical, mental health, and personality.
Just think about how an uber-confident person would carry themselves. They’d have they’d be arched out with their chest back. Conversely, think about someone in distress. They’d often be hunched over with their bed bowed. These are two extreme examples of how your posture can convey your feelings.
Does Posture Affect Personality?
The posture of a person can have an impact on their personality and can determine whether they are an introvert or extrovert. The way we sit and how our posture is, tells whether we are confident, have self-respect, or have low self-esteem. Here we will mention the five different postures and what they describe about your personality.
Good or Ideal Posture – This posture is one where your body parts, ears, shoulders, hips, and ankles are aligned with each other when you are standing. When a person is sitting with good posture both their feet are flat to the ground. Shoulders are upright, and there is an even distribution of weight on both hips.
People with good posture tend to be confident, attentive, and have self-respect with a vast majority of them extroverts. They can capture the attention of the room with just their presence and when they speak, people listen.
Kyphosis – This is a posture type, where you have an extra curve around your shoulders greater than 50 degrees, compared to a natural curve of around 20 degrees. This makes you appear with a hunch and a person may seem to be slouching.
Not only can it cause back pain, but people with this posture also tend to be careless about how people view them and dismissive of others. They do not lack self-confidence and a majority of them are also extroverts.
Flat Back – A flat back occurs in a person when their natural curve instead forms into an “S” like shape. The spine in this posture becomes flat after losing the lower curve. A person with his posture tends to lean forward because the spine becomes imbalanced.
People who have this posture suffer from leg or back pain and can have trouble sitting straight. People with flat backs tend to have lower self-esteem, lack confidence and tend to be introverts.
Swayback (Lordosis) – People with an exaggerated spinal curve in their posture are called having a swayback. In this condition, the spine curves inwards, causing discomfort and back pain. It appears that the person is sticking out their stomach and buttocks.
People with this posture tend to be overweight or pregnant or sleep on their stomachs. They tend to lack confidence and have bad body image ideas. Their self-esteem and confidence are also severely affected (excluding pregnancy).
Forward Neck or Head – This is a posture deformity commonly found due to the extended usage of laptops and phones. It is called “tech neck”, and the neck and head have pushed forward so much that the head extends past the shoulders.
People will this posture tend to be addicted to their devices, are unable to handle social interactions for long, tend to be introverted, and prefer staying on their devices at home.
Different postures of Extroverts and Introverts
Studies have found that extroverts and introverts hold themselves differently and have different postures.
- Extroverts tend to have a natural or enhanced lower back arch. They are confident and outgoing, showcasing a powerful posture.
- Introverts tend to showcase a submissive posture, having a response of withdrawing. This results in their natural lumbar flattening itself out, resulting in them having a flat or sway back.
It is possible to change your posture and, in turn, have a positive impact on your personality with intentional practice, repetition, or therapy.
How Does Poor Posture Affect Your Personality
Bad posture affects our body, mind, and emotional well-being and changes our personality. If our posture is the forward neck, then our different nerves are affected, one of which is the C5, which affects the vocal cord, shoulders, and diaphragm. This can cause behavioural effects, making a person less talkative, exhausted, and introverted.
Our posture makes us conscious of how we look and present ourselves. People with bad postures tend to disappear within a crowd. Personality is further affected by the harm that is done to the body due to bad posture, which includes:
- Curve in spine
- Back pain
- Neck pain and headaches
- Poor sleep
- Disrupted digestion
- Decreased motivation
All these symptoms can further impact your personality and mental and emotional wellbeing. You cannot concentrate, hold other people’s attention, or even give them attention if you suffer from these symptoms.
Why Is Good Posture Important To Your Health
Good posture is vital for both physical, mental, and emotional health. Here we will look at how our brain functions and mood are affected by good posture versus bad posture.
How Proper Posture Affects Brain Function
Sitting in an ideal posture versus sitting in a slouched position greatly impacts our brain. Research has tested that people remember negative memories and experiences quicker when in a slouched posture than in an ideal posture. People who sit with a good posture find it 80% easier to recall good memories and experiences.
Sitting or standing in a good posture allows our lungs to expand to full capacity, allowing us to take in more oxygen, which is then supplied to the brain, allowing the brain to function better, making us feel calmer and think clearer.
Slouching or curling in makes the body believe it is in danger, and it does into self-defence mode, making us feel unsafe and making it harder to focus. Sitting up straight thus helps the brain function better.
Does Posture Affect Mood?
There is a very strong link between our moods like anxiety, happiness, depression, and our posture. The power pose in yoga is used to help boost energy and confidence. Studies have been conducted making people sit in higher-power poses (ideal posture) and lower power poses to see the effect on people’s confidence and general mood.
It was found that people who sat with an ideal posture had a lower level of the stress hormone cortisol and a higher level of testosterone, which is linked to assertiveness and feeling confident and powerful. People who sat slumped had higher stress hormones, felt more nervous and scared, and suffered from self-doubt and low self-esteem.
Even sitting for a few minutes in a good posture affects how a person feels, behaves, and affects their hormones. Slouching makes a person feel small and defeated, which seeps into the thought process, and negative emotions are also likely to come to the forefront in this posture. Sitting up straight improves the level of stress, depression, and anxiety.
What Are The Benefits Of Good Posture?
Good posture has a lot of benefits, mental, physical, and emotional. Those physical benefits can include reduced joint pain, better athletic performance, increased lung capacity, improved digestion, and better circulation. Here we will look at some mental and emotional benefits as linked with personality.
Confidence
It has been shown through studies that people who have good posture are more confident than those who have bad posture. Straightening your back and having a good posture gives a person energy to do a task and a power boost.
One study put one person in a smaller chair while another person was in a taller chair, and it was found that the person on the taller chair had a wider view and felt more confident than the person sitting in the smaller chair.
Before a tough challenge, if a person works on their posture and tries to stand with a straight posture, it will give them more confidence and make them look self-assured to the people around them, thus making the task easier.
People who have a slouch or those who roll their shoulders inwards as a way to protect themselves find that they have lower self-esteem and they lack confidence. Making a simple change to their posture can boost confidence and give them greater self-esteem.
Aware and Alert
It is very obvious that a person who has a slouched posture tends to look down and focus on the ground. People who walk and sit with good posture tend to look ahead and be aware of their environment and surrounding.
They are more involved in what is going on around them, paying attention to the people and getting more attention and attentiveness in return from people around them. They feel more involved in the group they are in and rarely feel like an outsider or at the sidelines, giving them a feeling of belonging and helping with their self-esteem.
Self-Empowerment
Sitting straight with a good posture gives you self-empowerment compared to people who slouch or have a bad posture.
Studies have shown that students who sit up straighter have more confidence in their answers, feel they are doing better in their studies, and feel more secure about their future prospects than those who slouch. The students who slouch tend to suffer from a lack of faith in themselves, their studies, how well they are doing, and their prospects.
Boost in energy
Sitting in a straight posture gives you a source of energy while sitting in a slouched posture makes you feel exhausted and tired. It is shown by studies that people who have straight postures have greater levels of energy than those who have poorer postures.
When you have a slumped posture, the systems within your body will slow down, including your heart rate, breathing, adrenaline, etc., making you drowsy and lazy. Converse, when you are in a straight posture, the body and its systems run at a much higher level which leads to an increase in energy.
If you are ever exhausted and feel your energy lagging, try focusing on your posture and straightening it. You will find renewed energy and confidence to get through your task.
Changes in Hormones
As discussed above, slouching increases the stress hormone making people prone to anxiety, nerves, stress, and even depression. Studies have shown that even the process of sitting up straight can decrease the stress hormone and cause the brain and body to streamline, making them pulse through the veins in a considerably balanced proportion, supporting mood and demeanour.
Avoids future issues
Posture issues such as kyphosis, which we spoke about earlier, can be caused by poor posture. Having a humpback can be a great embarrassment, and you may struggle with confidence based on your physical appearance.
Poor posture is also likely to reduce your mobility over time and can lead to back pain. This can, in turn, lead to you withdrawing from social life and becoming more isolated. It can have a hugely negative effect on your mental health and well-being.
FAQs
Can Poor Posture Cause Foot Pain?
The foundation of the human body is the feet. Whether sitting, standing, walking, crouching, running, foot and foot alignment, makes a huge impact on the rest of your body. In the same vein, the alignment of your neck, chest, hips, legs, and spine in your posture greatly affects your feet.
If you are not careful and have hunched over shoulders, or weak muscles in your back and thigh, or your posture is swayback or flat, it can have a huge impact on your feet and ankles. Your feet and ankle will face more stress due to bad blood circulation caused by poor posture.
The problems with circulation can cause severe foot pain, swelling, and the bones and ligaments can struggle, leading to further severe problems.
How Important Is Proper Posture In Preparation For Your Career?
Your posture will tell your prospective employer, clients, and colleagues a lot about you as a person and will impact your career. If you have a bad posture, they will consider you lazy, inattentive, uncaring, and blasé about the job, which can harm your chances of getting the job, no matter how qualified you are.
You need to practice standing straight, showing a sense of calm confidence, being attentive to your surroundings, and should have the ability to handle any situations that come your way. Employers are more liable to trust an employee with a good posture than one who slouches and seems disinterested.
