Effects of Handshake Duration on Other Nonverbal Behavior

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Science
• Nonverbal Communication

Background:

• Etiquette guides detail proper handshakes, but empirical data on duration and consequences of violations is lacking.
• Understanding handshake norms is crucial for social and professional interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the behavioral effects of temporal violations in handshake duration.
• To compare reactions to prolonged, normal, and absent handshakes on nonverbal cues.

Main Methods:

• A naturalistic experiment with 34 participants assessed nonverbal behavior.
• Participants experienced prolonged (>3s), normal (<3s), or no handshake conditions.
• Frame-by-frame analysis of behavioral cues like laughing, smiling, and self-touching.

Main Results:

• Prolonged handshakes led to less laughing and more self-touching (hands-on-hands), indicating reduced enjoyment and anxiety.
• Normal handshakes resulted in less smiling and fewer hands-on-face movements compared to prolonged ones.
• No significant behavioral changes were observed in the no-handshake control group.

Conclusions:

• Temporal handshake violations significantly alter subsequent nonverbal behavior.
• Findings have implications for interviews, business, education, social settings, and social skills training.
• Behavioral responses to handshake duration are measurable and context-dependent.