New research from McGill University suggests that your mother's nagging about posture might actually have some merit. A laboratory study found that participants who sat upright reported more positive feelings and performed better on a risk-reward task than those who slouched or sat in a control condition. The effects were modest but measurable, offering fresh evidence that physical position can subtly influence mood and behavior.

Lead researcher Jorge Armony, a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at McGill, worked with graduate student Soren Wainio-Theberge, who came up with the original idea. The team recruited nearly 200 people from the McGill community. To avoid the pitfalls of previous 'power pose' studies, they didn't tell participants what they were studying. Instead, they had them complete tasks on a tablet placed in ways that encouraged either upright sitting or slouching, all under the guise of evaluating a mobile app.

In the risk-taking game, participants inflated a virtual balloon to earn rewards, risking losing everything if it burst. The upright group took more risks but earned more rewards, suggesting they weren't being reckless but rather engaging in more effective risk-taking. They also reported feeling more pride, which is associated with a positive mood.

The study addressed several criticisms of earlier posture research. By manipulating the environment rather than instructing participants directly, the researchers ensured most didn't realize their posture was being changed. They also used video software to measure neck angles, adding objective data that previous studies often lacked.

Armony cautions that sitting up straight won't transform your life overnight, but the findings raise questions about how workplace ergonomics and other environmental features might subtly influence our decisions and emotions. The study, 'Manipulating posture implicitly through environmental constraints influences mood and risk-taking behaviour,' was published in the British Journal of Psychology and supported by Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

So, go ahead and straighten up. It might just improve your mood and your investment portfolio - or at least your performance in a balloon game.