Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate the impact of specific body postures on interpersonal trust, and to explore the mediating roles of positive affect and sense of power therein. Employing a one-factor between-subjects design with two conditions, participants were instructed to maintain a specific posture for two minutes, after which their trust levels were assessed using an interpersonal trust task under two scenarios: principal-guaranteed and principal-slightly-loss conditions. The results revealed that briefly adopting an expansive body posture significantly enhanced interpersonal trust and exerted a protective effect on trust in the principal-slightly-loss scenario. Further mediation analysis indicated that both positive affect and sense of power mediated the relationship between body posture and interpersonal trust, with a competitive mediation pattern observed—positive affect demonstrated a stronger mediating effect. These findings suggest that short-term regulation of specific body postures can effectively enhance and protect interpersonal trust, with positive affect playing a key role in this process. The study contributes new empirical evidence for understanding and intervening in interpersonal trust from an embodied cognition perspective.

Key words: body posture, interpersonal trust, emotion, sense of power, embodied cognition

摘要：

身体姿势不仅是个体身心状态的外在表现，更可能主动影响其心理与社会行为。本研究旨在考察特定身体姿势对人际信任的影响，并探讨积极情绪和权力感在其中的中介作用。实验采用单因素两水平被试间设计，要求参与者保持特定身体姿势2分钟，随后通过本金保障、本金微损两类情景的人际信任任务，测量其信任水平。结果显示，短时间保持扩张性身体姿势可显著提升人际信任水平，且在本金微损信号情景下对信任具有保护作用。进一步中介分析表明，积极情绪和权力感在身体姿势影响人际信任的路径中均发挥中介作用，二者存在竞争关系，其中积极情绪的中介效应更大。研究结果表明，短时调节特定身体姿势是增强与保护人际信任的有效手段，且积极情绪在此过程中起关键作用。研究发现为从具身认知视角理解和干预人际信任提供了新证据。

关键词: 身体姿势, 人际信任, 情绪, 权力感, 具身认知