[An examination of the emotional meanings through hand movements]

In this study, emotional meanings associated with hand movements were investigated. All hand movements were performed by a female subject who was asked to use her right hand in such a way as to exclude cues from other forms of bodily communication such as those arising from facial expressions, gestures and various body postures. Seven kinetic variables relevant to hand movements were identified and 708 stimulus pictures were developed and presented to 115 male and 105 female subjects for evaluation using a 28 affect adjective check list. A varimax rotated factor analysis applied to the data yielded three factors for each sex as follows: (1) positive affect, (2) negative affect and (3) arousal. For female subjects, a fourth factor--"surprise"--was also identified. Examination of factor scores suggested that positive affect was related to an outside location of the arm, or upper spatial orientation, and to extension of the fingers. In contrast, negative affect was associated with an inside location of the arm and a clenched fist. Arousal was found to be related to palmar flexion and a clenched fist directed to the outside. Finger abduction and the elbow bent toward the outside were associated with the factor of "surprise" in females.