The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dundee researchers find three seconds is plenty for handshake
Donald Trump may not be the only person who can strike terror into people’s hearts with a single handshake.
Scientists in Tayside have concluded prolonged shakes can trigger anxiety, negatively impact business meetings and affect the state of our relationships.
The team at Dundee University’s School of Social Sciences found extending the act beyond three seconds reduced people’s enjoyment of one-onone encounters and influenced how often they would laugh.
Dr Emese Nagy, a reader in psychology who led the study, said the findings highlight the importance of first impressions.
“Handshakes are a particularly important greeting and can have long-lasting consequences for the relationships that we form,” she said.
“While shaking hands for longer may appear to be a warm gesture on the surface, we found that they negatively affected the behaviour of the recipient, even after the handshake was finished.”
For the study, 36 people were interviewed by masters students about their work and career prospects.
The subjects were then introduced to a second researcher, who either shook hands normally (for less than three seconds), for a prolonged period (longer than three seconds) or not at all.
Those who had been on the receiving end of the lengthy handshakes laughed less and showed increased levels of anxiety, while less than three seconds produced fewer smiles, but felt more natural, according to participants.
The American president’s handshakes with other leaders have made headlines for their duration.
He spent 19 seconds on Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, reinforcing his dominance with six pats on the back of the hand.