Correct Desk Posture Increases Mental Performance.

 

An upright posture makes people feel dominant and successful, which in turn improves their ability to relax and focus on problems.

- Tomi Ann Roberts, Ph.D.

 

Have a Problem to Solve? Quit Slouching!

Stop slouching! Sitting with correct desk posture can have a positive effect on your mood and improve your performance on math tests. That's the implication of a study by Tomi-Ann Roberts and Yousef Arefi-Afshar at Colorado College in America.

Sixty undergrads completed an intelligence test before being asked to assume either a slumped or upright posture for three minutes. During this time they were given fictitious feedback on the intelligence test, indicating they had scored in the top 25 per cent of all previous test takers. Returning to their natural posture, they then completed mood questionnaires and a maths test.

Those who'd been instructed to sit upright, with correct desk posture subsequently scored better at the maths test, reported being in a more positive mood, and being happier with their intelligence test performance, than those who'd been told to sit slumped.

Tomi Ann Roberts Ph.D, lead study author, stated that “an upright posture makes people feel dominant and successful, which in turn improves their ability to relax and focus on problems.”

The idea that our posture can affect our emotions is consistent with other research showing that pulling various facial expressions can alter our mood – for example smiling can make us feel happier.

When considering all the benefits of improving your posture, perhaps this is the most impressive. Correct desk posture not only makes you look better science has show that you can feel better about yourself too!