Mikkelsen Mai Bjørnskov, Elkjær Emma, Mennin Douglas S, Michalak Johannes, O'Toole Mia S
Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Brain Behav. 2025 Jun;15(6):e70643. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70643.
The present study investigated the effects of expansive and contractive body display instructions on adaptive behavior and affect within the context of personally relevant behavioral goals set in daily life. The moderating effects of motivational traits and symptoms of psychopathology were explored.
A sample of 127 adults identified personally relevant and challenging actions they wanted to take during each week for 12 consecutive weeks. Before taking action, participants were randomly assigned to listen to instructions for one of four body manipulations: (1) expansive, (2) contractive, (3) neutral, or (4) active control (i.e., walking in place). The behavioral outcome was the extent to which participants took the wanted action, and the affective outcomes were emotions, action tendencies, and appraisals.
The results showed no effect of body displays on behavior (d = 0.06) nor affect (ds = 0.02-0.06). Neither motivational traits nor symptoms of psychopathology moderated the effects of body displays on behavior and affect. Changes in action tendencies (i.e., avoid reward, approach reward) and appraisals (i.e., appraised difficulty, importance, and self-efficacy) predicted taking action as planned.
The results indicate that the body display instructions under investigation did not have an effect on taking action or associated affect. Such findings are more consistent with theories suggesting variability in the association between the motor system, emotions, and behavior across contexts than theories suggesting invariant associations. Future research may investigate individualized body displays and whether the effects of body manipulations vary systematically with features of the context.
本研究调查了在日常生活中设定的个人相关行为目标背景下，扩张性和收缩性身体展示指令对适应性行为和情感的影响。同时探讨了动机特质和精神病理学症状的调节作用。
127名成年人组成的样本连续12周确定了他们每周想要采取的个人相关且具有挑战性的行动。在采取行动之前，参与者被随机分配聆听四种身体动作之一的指令：（1）扩张性的，（2）收缩性的，（3）中性的，或（4）主动控制（即原地行走）。行为结果是参与者采取期望行动的程度，情感结果包括情绪、行动倾向和评价。
结果显示身体展示对行为（d = 0.06）和情感（ds = 0.02 - 0.06）均无影响。动机特质和精神病理学症状均未调节身体展示对行为和情感的影响。行动倾向（即回避奖励、趋近奖励）和评价（即评估的难度、重要性和自我效能感）的变化预测了按计划采取行动。
结果表明，所研究的身体展示指令对采取行动或相关情感没有影响。这些发现与表明运动系统、情绪和行为之间的关联在不同情境下存在变异性的理论更为一致，而不是与表明存在不变关联的理论一致。未来的研究可以调查个性化的身体展示，以及身体动作的效果是否会随着情境特征而系统地变化。
