Our job is not just to sell you a sofa, we want to make sure you enjoy it too, and how you sit on a sofa can dictate a lot of things. We’re not trying to be a doctor or a physician here and lecture you on posture or the benefits of Yoga, but it’s true that how you sit on a sofa can tell you a lot about your personality, or that of others…
While some psychologists try to relate to this a bit too deeply and find things that aren’t really there, here is our take on some typical sofa postures, as we try to understand what this tells us about personality traits.
For example, sitting upright in a natural but very neat position and with legs crossed means that a person is relaxed and in control, polite and courteous, and their thinking is generally focussed. They are most likely to be happy in their job and with home life.
What your sofa position says about you
Meanwhile, lounging out on a chaise sofa with your legs taking up all the room means you are dominant and confident, and probably a bit of a social butterfly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are content and you might be hiding some anxieties you don’t like to talk about. Does this fit with someone you know?
People who sit upright on the sofa with legs tucked in are adopting the foetal position, and this generally shows that they are content like a baby and deal with stress easily, but they can live like a hermit and enjoy their own company. They live life on their own terms and have an active social life, but can be reclusive when it suits.
Then we have the outright loungers, who lay out in a completely horizontal manner on a long four-seater sofa and really make the most of their relaxing time. This often relates to being dissatisfied at work or with other aspects of life and so they seek as much comfort as possible in the home, in fact they’d rather just go to bed. This doesn’t mean they’re not friendly and sociable, but their posture is crying out that they might just seek comfort in a huge tub of ice cream, or a grab-bag of crisps to themselves, any minute.
Are you comfortable on your sofa and in life?
Sitting upright in a formal position, even on a big corner sofa, displays a sense of discomfort and unease. You don’t like to take risks and you’re not outgoing, but that doesn’t mean you’re not happy. If you perch on the edge of the sofa, this means you are not staying long, or you are busy all the time and you have no time to relax.
If you sit upright in a cross-legged position on a small sofa or armchair you are calm and content, like a Buddha, but you like to talk about your life experiences, sometimes, perhaps a little too much. Finally, manspreading is a sign of over-confidence, you can take things too far and maybe your confidence is misplaced and is masking some insecurities?
It is often the case that you can tell more about a person sitting in someone else’s home than their own. We all behave a little differently in these circumstances of course, but even so, there are still traits that can deliver some tell-tale signs about you. For example, the more comfortable you appear to be in someone else’s home, perhaps explains your relationship with the other person?
When it comes to analysing sofa positions, just don’t give the game away the next time your in-laws visit, because your face can give quite a bit away about what you’re thinking too!
