Category: Social touching

Comfort body language, Friendship touching or friendly touching, Greeting gesture, Social touching

Body Language of The Handshake

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Handshake

Cue: Handshaking.

Synonym(s): Pressing The Flesh.

Description: A handshake is a type of gesture that is used in greeting where the hands of two people meet palm to palm. A pumping action then takes place.

In One Sentence: Handshaking is a universal greeting expression that carries many meanings depending on how it is performed.

How To Use it: Handshakes carry many hidden meanings. Use a firm handshake that is neither too long or two short (about 3 pumps). Keeping the hand dry, but warm to the touch will produce the best impression. A palm even, neither facing up, nor down, is the default and seen as most diplomatic. To power-play, either hold the hand palm down or twist it down as the handshake progresses. To appear submissive couple a weak handshake with the palm oriented upward.

Use the handshake to make a positive first impression.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I am pleased to meet you. I would like to extend my hand to yours so we can exchange some moderate, yet controlled, and generally impersonal intimacy.”

Variant: See Country Handshake (The), Cold Dead Wet Fish Handshake, Double Gripper Politician Handshake or Double Hander (The), Short Grabber/Finger Grabber Handshake, Oddball Handshake, Palm Up, Palm Down and Palm Even Handshakes, Stiff Arm And Thrust Forward Handshake, Death Grip Handshake, Wrench Forward Handshake, Undershaker Handshake, Wrist Hold Handshake, Wrist Hold Handshake and Upper Arm Grip Handshake, Limp Fish Handshake, Teacup Handshake, Arm Twister Handshake (The), Firm handshake, Fist Bumping.

Cue In Action: When Bob and Doug greeted each other, they extended their hands out vertically with their fingers held together, interlocked the thumbs, and lightly, yet firmly grasped each others palm and moved their hands in unison, palm-to-palm, up and down.

Meaning and/or Motivation: There are three main orientations that can occur during a handshakes. They are palm down (superiority), palm up (submissive) and palm even (equality).

Palm down handshakes emphasizes that a person wishes to control and dominant us, the palm up means someone feels subordinate and an even palm seeks an equal relationship.

See various types of handshakes and their hidden meaning in the “Variant” section.

Cue Cluster: The handshake is a stand-alone cue who’s meaning is interpreted by it’s variant. See the various types of handshake for their meaning and associated cue cluster.

Body Language Category: Comfort body language, Greeting gesture, Friendship touching or friendly touching, Social touching.

Resources:

Aström, J ; Thorell, L H ; Holmlund, U ; D’Elia, G. Handshaking, personality, and psychopathology in psychiatric patients, a reliability and correlational study. Perceptual and motor skills 1993, Vol.77(3 Pt 2): 1171-86.

Chaplin William F.; Phillips Jeffrey B; Brown Jonathan D.; Clanton Nancy R.; Stein Jennifer L.; 2000. Handshaking, gender, personality, and first impressions Journal of personality and social psychology. 79(1): 110-117.

Dolcos, Sanda ; Sung, Keen ; Argo, Jennifer J ; Flor-Henry, Sophie ; Dolcos, Florin. The power of a handshake: neural correlates of evaluative judgments in observed social interactions. Journal of cognitive neuroscience. 2012 24(12): 2292-305.

Frumin, Idan; Ofer Perl; Yaara Endevelt-Shapira; Ami Eisen; Neetai Eshel; Iris Heller; Maya Shemesh; Aharon Ravia; Lee Sela; Anat Arzi and Noam Sobel. A Social Chemosignaling Function for Human Handshaking. eLife 2015. 4:e05154
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05154.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/shake-hands-share-human-scent-curious-case-hand-sniffing-body-language/

Fisher, J; Rytting, M and Heslin, R. 1976. Hands touching hands: affective and evaluative effects on interpersonal touch, Sociometry 39: 416–421.

Greenbaum, Paul ; Rosenfeld, Howard. Varieties of touching in greetings: Sequential structure and sex-related differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1980. 5(1): 13-25.

Gueguen, Nicolas. Handshaking and Compliance With a Request – A Door-to-door Setting. Social Behavior and Personality. 2013. 41(10): 1585-1588.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/handshakes-lead-compliance-study/

Hiemstra, Kathleen M. Shake My Hand: Making the Right First Impression in Business With Nonverbal Communications.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included). Business Communication Quarterly. 1999. 62(4): 71.

Jeffrey D. Fisher; Marvin Rytting; Richard Heslin. 1976. Hands Touching Hands: Affective and Evaluative Effects of an Interpersonal Touch. Sociometry, 39(4): 416-421.

Lipsitz, Rebecca (2000). “A Gripping Start.” In Scientific American (September), p. 32.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

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.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/handshake-open-body-language-powerful-nonverbal-effect-brain/?preview=true

Stewart, Greg L. ; Dustin, Susan L. ; Barrick, Murray R. ; Darnold, Todd C. Zedeck, Sheldon (editor). Exploring the Handshake in Employment Interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2008 93(5): 1139-1146.

Spezialetti, Brian D. Do’s and don’ts for winning the job interview. (laboratory technicians). Medical Laboratory Observer. 1995. 27(7): 51-53.

Wesson, David A. The handshake as non-verbal communication in business. (marketing technique). Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 1992. 10(9): 61(6).

Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Courtship display, Dominant body language, Guiding body language, Leadership body language, Social touching

Body Language of Guiding Body Language

by Chris • October 22, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Guiding Body Language

Cue: Guiding Body Language.

Synonym(s): Hand To The Lower Back Of Another, Lightly Pushing Another’s Back, Pulling Someone While Shaking Hands, Shaking Hands Pull In Or Out, Moving People Around.

Description: Using a hand to lightly push on another person’s lower back to move them in a desirable position. Pulling someone in while shaking hands.

In One Sentence: Guiding is a way to create dominance by controlling the actions of others.

How To Use it: Guiding is a very powerful power-play. Men can increase their sex appeal by placing their hands on the small of a woman’s back and lightly moving her in the direction of his choosing. The same effect works while dancing where the man is expected to, and benefits from, leading the woman.

Men can also guide women by holding their hand and steering or pulling them with a slight lead. This is a powerful way to demonstrate leadership to women which they usually find sexually appealing as it is a display of dominance and leadership.

Guiding can also be done without placing the hand directly in contact with another person’s back, but rather holding it just off contact.

Men can also guide other men less intimately, by placing an arm over the shoulder and putting weight against them, thus moving them in their chosen direction. The man who is confident enough to control other men by one-directional contact will be perceived as the most dominant.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m trying to force you into compliance through light force by gently pushing you in the direction I want you to travel.”

Variant: See Head Drop or Head Beckoning.

Cue In Action: a) The host greeted her guest, grabbed their overcoats and gently moved them from the front foyer to the living area for drink and company. b) The man led his dance partner across the room with light pressure to her lower back. c) He guided his date around the room with light pressure to her lower back to meet his family at the cocktail party.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Using a hand to lightly push on another person’s back, pulling someone in when shaking hands, using a finger to beckon someone closer, or using alluring eye contact are all ways to influence people to move in ways desirable.

Guiding is a throwback technique to childhood. Due to its commonplace use during our childhood by our parents, we easily succumb to such tactics throughout our life. A light touch the lower back is conditioned to encourage us to move with, rather than against, the pressure. Guiding is a way other people can control how we move, when and in which direction.

People who use guiding body language are usually dominant. They seek control, are authoritative and seek leadership positions wherever they go.

Cue Cluster: Watch for strong eye contact, head high, good voice patterns and gesturing, strong use of touch in order to flatter and control, strong leadership, and charisma.

Body Language Category: Authoritative body language, Courtship displays, Confident body language, Dominant body language, Guiding body language, Leadership body language, Social touching.

Resources:

Argo, J. J., Dahl, D. W., & Morales, A. C. (2006). Consumer contamination: How consumers react to products touched by others. Journal of Marketing, 70(April), 81–94.
Aranguren, Martin. “Nonverbal interaction patterns in the Delhi Metro: interrogative looks and play-faces in the management of interpersonal distance.” Interaction Studies. 2016. 16(1) forthcoming.

Aranguren, Martin and Stephane Tonnelat. Emotional Transactions in the Paris Subway: Combining Naturalistic Videotaping, Objective Facial Coding and Sequential Analysis in the Study of Nonverbal Emotional Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2014. 38:495–521. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0193-1
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/seriously-stop-touching-use-nonverbal-signaling-manage-unwanted-touching-busy-public

Bailenson, J.N. & Yee, N. (in press). Virtual interpersonal touch: Haptic interaction and copresence in collaborative virtual environments. International Journal of Multimedia Tools and Applications.

Bohm. 1997. Effects of interpersonal touch, degree of justification, and sex of participant on compliance with a request. The Journal of social psychology. 137: 460-469.

Crusco, A. and C. Wetzel. 1984. The midas touch: the effects of interpersonal touch on restaurant tipping, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 10: 512–517.

Fisher, J; Rytting, M and Heslin, R. 1976. Hands touching hands: affective and evaluative effects on interpersonal touch, Sociometry 39: 416–421.

Guéguen, Nicolas. Nonverbal encouragement of participation in a course: the effect of touching Social Psychology of Education. 2004. 7: 89–98.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/a-touching-way-to-encourage/

Gueguen, Nicolas; Sebastien Meineri and Virginie Charles-Sire. Improving Medication Adherence by Using Practitioner Nonverbal Techniques: A Field Experiment on the Effect of Touch. Journal of Behavioral Medice. 2010. 33:466–473
DOI 10.1007/s10865-010-9277-5
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/touching-boosts-compliance-improving-medical-compliance-using-nonverbal-communication/

Gueguen, N. (2001a). Toucher et soumission a` une requeˆte: Re´plications expe´rimentales en situation naturelle et e´valuation de l’impact du statut. Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale. 2001(a). 14(3):113-158.

Gue´guen, N. (2001b). L’effet d’influence du toucher sur le comportement du consommateur: 2 illustrations expe´rimentales en exte´rieur. Direction et Gestion: La Revue des Sciences de Gestion. 2001(b). 190–191, 123–132.

Guéguen, N and C. Jacob 2006, Touch and consumer behavior: A new experimental evidence in a field setting, International Journal of Management 23: 24–33.

Guéguen, N., & Jacob, C. The effect of touch on tipping: An evaluation in a French’s bar. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 2005. 24(2): 295-299.

Guéguen, Nicolas; Celine Jacob; Gaelle Boulbry. The Effect of Touch on Compliance With a Restaurant’s Employee Suggestion. Hospitality Management. 2007. 26: 1019-1023.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/touching-leads-compliance-study/

Hall, Jeffrey A. and Chong Xing. The Verbal and Nonverbal Correlates of the Five Flirting Styles. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 2015. 39:41–68. DOI 10.1007/s10919-014-0199-8
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/first-12-minutes-flirting-using-nonverbal-communication-study-reveals-26-body-language-cues-attraction/

Hadi, R., and Valenzuela, A., A meaningful embrace: Contingent effects of embodied cues of affection. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2014.02.001
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/whats-in-a-nonverbal-object-caress/

Hertenstein, Matthew J; Keltner, Dacher; App, Betsy; Bulleit, Brittany A; Jaskolka, Ariane R 2006. Touch Communicates Distinct Emotions. Emotion. 6(3): 528-533

Jeffrey D. Fisher; Marvin Rytting; Richard Heslin. 1976. Hands Touching Hands: Affective and Evaluative Effects of an Interpersonal Touch. Sociometry, 39(4): 416-421.

Kleinke, C. Compliance to Requests Made by Gazing and Touching Experimenters in Field Settings. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 1977. 13: 218–223.

Kaufman, D. and J. Mahoney. 1999 The effect of waitresses’ touch on alcohol consumption in dyads, The Journal of Social Psychology 139: 261–267.

Kneidinger, L. M.; Maple, T. L.; Tross, S. A. 2001. Touching behavior in sport: functional components, analysis of sex differences, and ethological considerations. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 25(1): 43-62.

Krishna, A., & Morrin, M. (2008). Does touch affect taste? The perceptual transfer of product container haptic cues. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(6), 807–818.
Lynn et al., 1998 M. Lynn, J.M. Le and D. Sherwyn. 1998. Reach out and touch your customers, Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quaterly 39: 60-65

Lee Ann Renninger, T. Joel Wade, Karl Grammer. Getting that female glance: Patterns and consequences of male nonverbal behavior in courtship contexts. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2004; 25: 416–431.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/part-i-how-to-read-male-sexual-body-language-a-study-for-women-and-the-men-who-wish-to-cheat-the-system/

Moore, Monica. Courtship Signaling and Adolescents: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Journal of Sex Research. 1995. 32(4): 319-328.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/girls-just-want-to-have-fun-the-origins-of-courtship-cues-in-girls-and-women/

Nannberg, J., and Hansen, C. Post-compliance touch: An incentive for task performance. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1994.134, 301–307.

Peck, J., and Shu, S. B. (2009). The effect of mere touch on perceived ownership. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(Oct), 434–447.

Peck, J., and Wiggins, J. (2006). It just feels good: Consumers’ affective response to touch and its influence on persuasion. Journal of Marketing, 70(Oct), 56–69.

Remland, M. S. and T. S. Jones 1995. Interpersonal Distance, Body Orientation, and Touch: Effects of Culture, Gender, and Age. Journal of Social Psychology 135(3): 281-297.

R. Stephen and R. Zweigenhaft. 1986. The effect on tipping of a waitress touching male and female customers. The Journal of Social Psychology 126 pp. 141–142.

Smith, D. E., Gier, J. A., & Willis, F. N. 1982. Interpersonal touch and compliance with a marketing request. Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 3: 35-38.

Thompson, Erin H. and James A. Hampton. The Effect of Relationship Status on Communicating Emotions Through Touch,. Cognition and Emotion. 2011. 25(2): 295-306. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2010.492957.
http://bodylanguageproject.com/articles/using-touch-convey-emotion

Williams. 1993. Effects of Mutual Gaze and Touch on Attraction, Mood, and Cardiovascular Reactivity Source: Journal of Research in Personality. 27(2): 170-183.

Willis, F. N., & Hamm, H. K. 1980. The use of interpersonal touch in securing compliance. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 5: 49-55.

Williams, L. E., Huang, J. Y., & Bargh, J. A. (2009). The scaffolded mind: Higher mental processes are grounded in early experience of the physical world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 1257–1267.

*No Photo, Aggressive body language, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dominant body language, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), High confidence hand displays, Intimate touching, Leadership body language, Palm power, Power play, Social touching

Body Language of Double Gripper Politician Handshake

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of Double Gripper Politician Handshake

Cue: Double Gripper Politician Handshake

Synonym(s): Double Hander Handshake, Two Handed Handshake.

Description: A regular handshake except both hands are used to sandwich the other person’s hand.

In One Sentence: The double gripper handshake tells others that you wish to form an intimate business relationship.

How To Use it: Use the double gripper handshake to build and maintain a strong business or political relationship. The handshake is best used between two high ranking officials, or between one high ranking official and a person he wishes to form a partnership with. When done correctly, the handshake can create warm feelings in the lower ranking person.

Context: Business, General.

Verbal Translation: “I like you a lot, let me wrap your hands up with mine in a hand embrace and show you how much I think we should do business together.”

Cue In Action: a) When the politician met the business man, he used the double gripper politician handshake to show him how much support he was prepared to offer his business venture if he was elected. b) The junior associate shook hands with the boss, whom he felt close with, but the feeling, he discovered, was not mutual. When the junior worker enveloped the hands of the boss in a double handshake, his boss pulled away and grimaced. The junior member felt they had developed a connection through their golf outing.

Meaning and/or Motivation: It is an intimate handshake but in the wrong company can be taken as insincere and create negative feelings. The person doing the double hander is the top-dog and is acting superior to the single hander so this handshake should be reserved for people who are of equal or lower status.

Cue Cluster: Someone who is willing to perform the double gripper politician handshake is likely one that is boisterous and outgoing, they may use touch a lot to dominate others, they might come in closer than usual, and invite people into their personal space, they might strive for attention through dramatics stories, loud laughter, and plenty of gesticulation.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Authoritative body language, Confident body language, Dominant body language, Enthusiasm (nonverbal), High confidence hand displays, Intimate touching, Leadership body language, Palm power, Power play, Social touching.

Resources:

Bohm. 1997. Effects of interpersonal touch, degree of justification, and sex of participant on compliance with a request. The Journal of social psychology. 137: 460-469.

Debrot, Anik ; Schoebi, Dominik ; Perrez, Meinrad ; Horn, Andrea B. Touch as an interpersonal emotion regulation process in couples’ daily lives: the mediating role of psychological intimacy. Personality & social psychology bulletin. 2013. 9(10): 1373-85.

Fisher, J; Rytting, M and Heslin, R. 1976. Hands touching hands: affective and evaluative effects on interpersonal touch, Sociometry 39: 416–421.

Guéguen, N. (2007). Courtship compliance: The effect of touch on women’s behavior. Social Influence, 2, 81-97.

Greenbaum, Paul ; Rosenfeld, Howard. Varieties of touching in greetings: Sequential structure and sex-related differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1980. 5(1): 13-25.

Ghareeb, P.A. ; Bourlai, T. ; Dutton, W. ; McClellan, W.T. Reducing pathogen transmission in a hospital setting. Handshake verses fist bump: a pilot study. Journal of Hospital Infection. 2013. 85(4): 321-323.

Jeffrey D. Fisher; Marvin Rytting; Richard Heslin. 1976. Hands Touching Hands: Affective and Evaluative Effects of an Interpersonal Touch. Sociometry, 39(4): 416-421.

Lipsitz, Rebecca (2000). “A Gripping Start.” In Scientific American (September), p. 32.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

Maclaren, Kym. Touching matters: Embodiments of intimacy. Emotion, Space and Society. 2014. 13: 95-102.

Peck, J., & Shu, S. B. (2009). The effect of mere touch on perceived ownership. Journal of Consumer Research, 36(Oct), 434–447.

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

Remland, M. S. and T. S. Jones 1995. Interpersonal Distance, Body Orientation, and Touch: Effects of Culture, Gender, and Age. Journal of Social Psychology 135(3): 281-297.

Spezialetti, Brian D. Do’s and don’ts for winning the job interview. (laboratory technicians). Medical Laboratory Observer. 1995. 27(7): 51-53.

Wesson, David A. The handshake as non-verbal communication in business. (marketing technique). Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 1992. 10(9): 61(6).

*No Photo, Aggressive body language, Arrogance or arrogant body language, Dominant body language, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Masked body language, Negative body language, Power play, Social touching, Threat displays

Body Language of The Death Grip Handshake

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Death Grip Handshake

Cue: Death Grip Handshake.

Synonym(s): Bone Crusher Handshake.

Description: A handshake that employs a macho bone crushing grip.

In One Sentence: The death grip handshake signifies the need for dominance.

How To Use it: Use the bone crusher to show your physical strength through aggression. The application is suited to situations when you want or need to maintain authority over another person. A boss should use a higher than average amount of force over junior managers and low ranking employees especially when he wishes to assert himself.

Context: General.

Verbal Translation: “I’m really insecure and I’m displaying this by crushing the life out of your hand in hopes you will submit to the pressure of my strength and dominance.”

Cue In Action: Uncle Steve was always the guy you had to watch out for. He was a short, but stocky kind of guy, that worked out all the time and when he shook your hand – you knew he meant business. His grip was strong, firm, and often overbearing.

Meaning and/or Motivation: Those that employ a macho bone crushing grip have aggressive personalities and intend to try to dominant you from the start. However, the true origins of this handshake, usually lies in insecurity. The underlying negative feelings foster a need to prove themselves at every instant.

It says “I have the power over you and can cause you pain if I so desire.” They have no regard for how others perceive them and use pain to put people in their place.

Rings on the fingers can make matters even worse, and they know it! You can put these people in their place by verbalizing your pain, and drawing other people’s attention to it jokingly. Most people wont have enough confidence to be vocal about it, which is how the death gripper gets his power, but if done properly can make others laugh and set yourself apart.

Cue Cluster: Watch for cues of insecurity coupled with aggression such as encroaching on personal space, leaning in, elbow and finger jabs, playful punching, boisterousness, loud talking, pranks, and so forth.

Body Language Category: Arrogance or arrogant body language, Aggressive body language, Dominant body language, Low confidence body language, Low confidence hand displays, Masked body language, Negative body language, Power play, Social touching, Threat displays.

Resources:

Aström, J ; Thorell, L H ; Holmlund, U ; D’Elia, G. Handshaking, personality, and psychopathology in psychiatric patients, a reliability and correlational study. Perceptual and motor skills 1993, Vol.77(3 Pt 2): 1171-86.

Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135231.

Bjorkqvist, K., Osterrnan, K. and Lagerspetz, K.M.I. (1994) ‘Sex Differences in Covert Aggression among Adults’, Aggressive Behaviour 20: 27–33.

Da Gloria, Jorge ; Duda, Danièle ; Pahlavan, Farzaneh ; Bonnet, Philippe. “Weapons effect” revisited: Motor effects of the reception of aversive stimulation and exposure to pictures of firearms. Aggressive Behavior. 1989 15(4): 265-271.

Fisher, J; Rytting, M and Heslin, R. 1976. Hands touching hands: affective and evaluative effects on interpersonal touch, Sociometry 39: 416–421.

Freedman, Norbert ; Blass, Thomas ; Rifkin, Arthur ; Quitkin, Frederic Lanzetta, John T. (editor). Body movements and the verbal encoding of aggressive affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1973. 26(1): 72-85.

Greenbaum, Paul ; Rosenfeld, Howard. Varieties of touching in greetings: Sequential structure and sex-related differences. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 1980. 5(1): 13-25.

Hines, N.J. and Fry, D.P. (1994) ‘Indirect Modes of Aggression among Women of Buenos Aires, Argentina’, Sex Roles 30: 213–24.

Jeffrey D. Fisher; Marvin Rytting; Richard Heslin. 1976. Hands Touching Hands: Affective and Evaluative Effects of an Interpersonal Touch. Sociometry, 39(4): 416-421.

Lagerspetz, K.M.J., Bjorkqvist, K. and Peltonen, T. (1988) ‘Is Indirect Aggression Typical of Females? Gender Differences in Aggressiveness in 11- to 12-year-old Children’, Aggressive Behavior 14: 403–14.

Lipsitz, Rebecca (2000). “A Gripping Start.” In Scientific American (September), p. 32.

Morris, Desmond (1994). Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (New York: Crown Publishers).

Nell, Victor. Crueltys rewards: The gratifications of perpetrators and spectators. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 2006. 29(3): 211-224.

Ostrowsky, Michael K. Are violent people more likely to have low self-esteem or high self-esteem? Aggression and Violent Behavior. 2010. 15(1): 69-75.

Parker, G. A. (1974). Assessment strategy and the evolution of fighting behaviour. J. Theor. Biol. 47, 223-243.

Pease, Barbara and Allan Pease. 2006. The Definitive Book of Body Language Hardcover. Bantam.

Pailing, Andrea ; Boon, Julian ; Egan, Vincent. Personality, the Dark Triad and violence
Personality and Individual Differences. 2014. 67: 81-86.

Szamado, S. (2008). How threat displays work: species-specific fighting techniques, weaponry and proximity risk. Anim. Behav. 76, 1455-1463.

Spezialetti, Brian D. Do’s and don’ts for winning the job interview. (laboratory technicians). Medical Laboratory Observer. 1995. 27(7): 51-53.

Wesson, David A. The handshake as non-verbal communication in business. (marketing technique). Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 1992. 10(9): 61(6).

*No Photo, Closed body language, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Idiosyncratic body language, Intention movements, Shy nonverbal, Social touching, Space invasion

Body Language of The Country Handshake

by Chris • October 20, 2014 • 0 Comments

Body Language of The Country Handshake

Cue: Country Handshake

Synonym(s): N/A

Description: A handshake where people lean in, sometimes extremely, rather than move closer.

In One Sentence: The Country handshake is one where each person keeps a significant amount of space in between themselves.

How To Use it: Use the Country handshake when greeting people who are not accustomed to close proximity.

Context: Business.

Verbal Translation: “I need a lot of personal space so I’m going to plant my feet at a distance, or back up, and away from you. To make up this gap, I’ll then lean forward and extend my hand out and away from myself. Personal space is important to me.”

Variant: A variant to the country handshake is the city handshake which includes greater proximity and represents people who are require less personal space in order to feel comfortable.

Also see Country Handshake (The), Cold Dead Wet Fish Handshake, Double Gripper Politician Handshake or Double Hander (The), Short Grabber/Finger Grabber Handshake, Oddball Handshake, Palm Up, Palm Down and Palm Even Handshakes, Stiff Arm And Thrust Forward Handshake, Death Grip Handshake, Wrench Forward Handshake, Undershaker Handshake, Wrist Hold Handshake, Wrist Hold Handshake and Upper Arm Grip Handshake, Limp Fish Handshake, Teacup Handshake, Arm Twister Handshake (The), Firm handshake, Fist Bumping.

Cue In Action: The salesman was accustomed to working with city folk, but when he was put on duty to speak with farmers about their choice in fertilizer, he was met with suspicion. When greeting farmers he shrunk the distance to try to build intimacy, but he found it difficult. The farmers would always seem to be running away or turning away as if they were too busy to talk. When the farmers shook hands, they would usually extend their hands way out, if they would at all, and when he approached closely they would lean back awkwardly. After a short meeting with his boss, the salesman resorted to waves from the edge of the laneway and dropped the handshake altogether. He found that the farmers were much more receptive.

Meaning and/or Motivation: People who live in the country are accustomed to having a high amount of space around them, so shaking hands is usually a breach of their personal space. A long distance wave is preferred.

When a handshake is tolerated, country men will extend their hands away from their bodies so as to protect from encroachment. Even city people who have high needs for personal space, will maintain their territorial bubble by thrusting their hand out. During a handshake that violates personal space, a person my thrust their arm forward during the handshake in efforts to push the other person back. This shows dominance and authority coupled with a desire for much larger personal space.

The country handshake represents a greater desire for personal space and a larger personal space bubble than normal.

Cue Cluster: The country handshake will be coupled with other cues such as turning the head away, angling the torso away, moving the body back after shaking hands and less frequent eye contact.

Body Language Category: Closed body language, Distancing or moving away, Escape movements, Idiosyncratic body language, Intention movements, Space invasion, Shy nonverbal, Social touching.

Resources:

Beaulieu, Catherine. Intercultural Study of Personal Space: A Case Study. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 2004 34(4):794-805.

Argyle, M., & Dean, I. Eye contact, distance and affiliation. Sociometry, 1965, 28, 289-304.

Cook, M. Experiments on orientation and proxemics. Human Relations, 1970, 23, 61-67.

Coutts, Larrym. ; Ledden, Maribeth. Nonverbal Compensatory Reactions to Changes in Interpersonal Proximity. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1977 102(2): 283-290.

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