According to Wikipedia, the handshake definition is this: a short ritual in which two people grasp their right or left hands, often accompanied by a brief shake of the grasped hands. It is initiated when the two hands touch. Handshaking is commonly done upon meeting, greeting, parting, offering congratulations, or completing an agreement.

The purpose of a handshake is to convey trust, balance, and equality.

Many of us use it very often on a daily basis, but only a few know that a handshake holds many secrets…

For instance, handshaking can offer clues about the country provenience of a person. Handshakes differ in many cultures.

In Africa for example,a handshake is done using very little energy and can last for up to a few minutes (time used to exchange attentions and talk about their relatives). In western Africa, handshakes include ornamental gestures, such as snapping the fingers as the hands part.

The evolution of handshaking in the Afro-American population is mostly an effect of the central role played by it in the African communities.

Although the English exported this gesture in many parts of the world, in the XVII-century it was used solely for sealing agreements. Only later it became a greeting and started to spread in other countries.

The handshake is a gesture exported by the English to France, where it became known as “le handshake” (according to Theodore Zeldin, author of “The French”). Today’s french people are very attached to this gesture.

The Germans and the British tend to use handshakes very rarely, but the french shake hands multiple times daily, and so do the Russians, Italians and Spanish people.

The french handshake is a short energetic shake, while the Italian one lasts longer.

The social rules that assign who shakes who’s hand differ from country to country. If in France handshake used by both sexes, in England it is used mostly by males, and less times between females or males and females.

There are 8 types of handshakes:

1. Vice. Strong grasp of the other person’s hand. It’s often used unconsciously, but most of the times it has the intention to express power. People who want to Show that they’re not weak and inefficient as others may believe often use it as a form of compensation.
2. Dead hand. The opposite of the vice, a totally relaxed hand. The ones who employ this type of handshake don’t connect to the other person. Their attitude, just like their hand, remains passive. Often met at persons with big egos, but also at people who have to shake lots of hands. It’s also influenced by the cultural background (African handshake). Still, the dead hand is often used for other reasons: women wanting to leave the impression of languishing femininity or by strong men use to underline their power (Mike Tyson had a dead hand handshake).
3. Firm hand. Fingers get around the partner’s hand; the pressure is moderate. Studies found that it is used by extrovert persons. It is also used by women who are open to new experiences.
4. Blood sucker. Scary name… There are people who hold their partners hand after the handshake. By holding the other one’s hand, a person can control the flow of the discussion. What is interesting about this handshake is that the “victims” rarely have the courage to free their hand.
5. Wet hand. People with damp hands often try to hide this by wiping it off their clothes before shaking hands. It’s a sign of anxiety, but there are also people who have a genetic illness that determines this.
6. Restrengthen. An amplified version of the handshake, in which one uses his both hands.
7. Invasive handshake. In a symmetrical handshake, the participants hands should meet at half the distance between their bodies. The invasion refers to moving that space in one of the personal spaces of the participants.
8. Dominant handshake. One of the participants turns their arm so that their hand ends up above the other one’s.

Although we tend to think that hands are unimportant, they can reveal a lot of information about a person. A UCLA study finds that about 93 percent of a person’s effectiveness in communication shines through body language. Use this in your advantage.

I often use the ”dead hand” handshake. Which one do you use?

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