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One note; in general, I think we tend to diminish finding when we find out that the placebo effect is partly behind them. Wrongly, in my opinion. Better react

by 09bjb 9y ago

One note; in general, I think we tend to diminish finding when we find out that the placebo effect is partly behind them. Wrongly, in my opinion. Better reactions might be, "Wow, we take this action and our bodies/brains take care of the rest of the effect through some placebo magic? That's amazing!!"

yawaramin 9y ago
That's a great point. No one should be able to argue with Dr Cuddy if she decides to make her living pushing this 'placebo-trigger' technique.
- tunesmith 9y ago
  But doesn't pointing out a placebo effect also have power? I know the placebo effect still exists even if you're aware of it being placebo, but does it lessen? And what if it's accompanied by shaming? Meaning, say the power pose effect doesn't exist. But early on, it's exciting and new, and there's a placebo effect (which is fine!), but people also think it's real. But then studies get replicated, and there's well-known doubt on whether the effect is real in a non-placebo manner. There might still be a placebo effect, but does it shrink? And then there's a lot of controversy and the study is dragged through the mud, and power poses are mocked. Might the placebo effect be lessened even further (or obliterated) from this? Could this be true even if it was originally valid and not just placebo?
  - yawaramin 9y ago
    Too many ifs, I can't really take a guess at that :-)
  - munchbunny 9y ago
    I think you're moving into territory in human psychology that nobody really understands. For the time being, the answer is probably "if it works for you, then keep doing it." If power posing before an important meeting is how you psyche yourself up to be unafraid and effective in the meeting, then why not keep doing it, even if it doesn't seem to work for everyone? Knowing the replication problems, I won't suggest power posing as a general thing. Maybe I will tell someone to try a bunch of things including power posing, and tell them to keep the things that they think are working.

by 09bjb 9y ago

yawaramin 9y ago

That's a great point. No one should be able to argue with Dr Cuddy if she decides to make her living pushing this 'placebo-trigger' technique.

tunesmith 9y ago
But doesn't pointing out a placebo effect also have power? I know the placebo effect still exists even if you're aware of it being placebo, but does it lessen? And what if it's accompanied by shaming? Meaning, say the power pose effect doesn't exist. But early on, it's exciting and new, and there's a placebo effect (which is fine!), but people also think it's real. But then studies get replicated, and there's well-known doubt on whether the effect is real in a non-placebo manner. There might still be a placebo effect, but does it shrink? And then there's a lot of controversy and the study is dragged through the mud, and power poses are mocked. Might the placebo effect be lessened even further (or obliterated) from this? Could this be true even if it was originally valid and not just placebo?
- yawaramin 9y ago
  Too many ifs, I can't really take a guess at that :-)
- munchbunny 9y ago
  I think you're moving into territory in human psychology that nobody really understands. For the time being, the answer is probably "if it works for you, then keep doing it." If power posing before an important meeting is how you psyche yourself up to be unafraid and effective in the meeting, then why not keep doing it, even if it doesn't seem to work for everyone? Knowing the replication problems, I won't suggest power posing as a general thing. Maybe I will tell someone to try a bunch of things including power posing, and tell them to keep the things that they think are working.