Handshake And Open Body Language Has Powerful Nonverbal Effect On Brain
Christopher Philip
A team of researchers lead by Sanda Dolcos, University of Illinois has found evidence of the nonverbal strength stemming from simple body language – the handshake.
In this particular study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience researchers sought to measure the effects that nonverbal communication had on the brain. The researchers did so with the help of fMRI technology which measures brain activity.
After being wired-in subjects viewed video of prepared stimulus material. It consisted of either a cardboard cut-out of a host in the control condition or an actual host exhibiting specific gestures and postures in a business setting with a guest. The clips were 10 seconds long and consisted of one of two situations – either an “Approach condition” or an “Avoidance condition.”
Approach condition: The host physically approaches the guest by stepping toward him or her with an open/inviting posture including open arms and smiling face.
Avoidance condition: The host stepped away and displayed closed/no inviting posture including cross arms and legs and a grimace on the face.
Within each condition, half the trials were done with a handshake and the other half without. During the trials the subjects were told to imagine that they were in one or the other role (guest or host). This was randomly determined between trails.
After the subjects watched the videos, they rated the host on competence, interest in doing business and trustworthiness. This was done across both the Approach versus Avoidance behaviours as well as the handshake versus no handshake interactions.
As the subjects were connected to a brain fMRI the researchers were able to measure the areas of the brain which showed the most activity when compared to the control condition (cardboard cut-out i.e. no interaction).
The results showed that, as predicted, the Approach behaviour showed significantly higher rates for competence, interest in doing business, and trustworthiness. The handshake also had the effect of increasing the ratings the subjects gave to the interaction within both Approach and Avoidance behaviours but was highest in the Approach condition.
Interestingly, however, the brain was also active in specific areas, but there was no major difference between the Approach and Avoid conditions.
According to the researchers in their paper three main findings were observed.
First, Approach was positively associated with ratings from subjects over Avoidance and a handshake preceding social interactions enhanced the positive effect of Approach but importantly also diminished the negative effects of Avoidance.
Second, certain brain areas located in the “social cognition network” were more involved in the evaluation of Approach than to Avoidance.
Third, there was an increase in sensitivity in the amygdala (processing of emotion) and superior temporal sulcus (STS) during Approach and handshake conditions. Areas of the brain that were also involved include EBA (extsrastriate body area) and the pFC (pre-frontal cortex). Together these form an area referred to as the social cognition network which evaluate actions, intentions and emotions associated with nonverbal behaviours.
Additionally, the handshake showed greater activity in the nucleus accumbens then when no handshake was observed.
Discussing And Applying The Findings
This paper is highly technical as it deals with areas of the brain, however, it does help those interested in nonverbal communication as it specifically outlines fixed patterns that occur when subjected to body language.
When people saw inanimate, cardboard cut-outs with no interaction, the subjects didn’t have the same activity within the brain. This tells us that specific areas of the brain are involved in processing nonverbal behaviour. While the areas of the brain are not specifically important to the user of body language, that they exist, is very important.
The amygdale processes and handles emotional events in people, and that it lights up, makes reading and using body language a highly emotionally driven and quite likely a passive action – even for people who are not attuned. We know this because, in this study, subjects merely watched a video sequence and imagined that they were one of the two parties.
The study found that handshakes and approaching with open arms and smiling produced greater feelings of trust and competence making future business interactions more likely.
The take-away message is quite clear – to strike others were it counts, in their “social cognition network” within their brain – hit them up with a handshake, open arms, and smiles.
Image Credit: reynermedia
Resources
Sanda Dolcos; Keen Sung; Jennifer J. Argo; Sophie Flor-Henry and Florin Dolcos. The Power of a Handshake: Neural Correlates of Evaluative Judgments in Observed Social Interactions. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 24; 12: 2292–2305.