Victoria Booth
Emotions
Questions Received:
How one can identify if a person is in a state of excitation or is depressed just by a shakehand?
Response:
How one can identify if a person is in a state of excitation or is depressed just by a shakehand?
8th January 2024
A handshake tends to be a brief event during a formal greeting or when congratulations are being given, and as such may not appear to impart much information about the emotional state of another person. However, some clues may be present – whether the presented hand is moist or dry, warm or cold, whether the handshake is firm or limp, or whether there is a detectable tremor – these might indicate particular emotional states.
(As you will know some properties of the skin change according to cognitive and physiological activities. One of these changes – the galvanic skin response – is measured during the lie-detector test.) Combined with visual examination of the other person’s face during the handshake it can be possible to gain an insight into what they are feeling.
When nurses and doctors examine their patients, they are looking for all kinds of information to help them find out what the problem is, and a handshake can be a useful starting point. Remember though that there are cultural differences in how a handshake is conducted – a firm hearty grasp may be normal in one country while in another country the handshake is a much more gentle meeting of hands. We have not been able to find any published work on this topic yet – perhaps our other readers may be able to help…
