One thing lingers after a long handshake – unease

Experts say there’s a definite point at which a handshakes get uncomfortable.

Mark Latham gets a grip on John Howard during the 2004 election campaign.

Handshakes lasting longer than three seconds can trigger anxiety, negatively impact business meetings and affect the state of our ­relationships.

As part of a study in Scotland, 36 people were interviewed by students at the University of Dundee’s school of social sciences about their work and career prospects. They were then introduced to a second researcher, who would either shake their hand as “normal” (less than three seconds), “prolonged” (longer than three seconds), or not at all.

The participants were unaware of the significance of the handshake throughout the study, with their subsequent reactions analysed. Emese Nagy, a reader in psychology who led the study, said the findings highlighted the ­importance of introducing ourselves appropriately.

“Handshakes are a particularly important greeting and can have long-lasting consequences for the relationships that we form,” Dr Nagy said. “There has been evidence to suggest that many ­behaviours, such as hugs, fall within a window of approximately three seconds and this study has confirmed that handshakes that occur in this timeframe feel more natural to those who participate in the greeting.

“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.”

Dr Nagy said politicians were particularly keen on prolonged handshakes, which could be used as an expression of warmth but also as a means of demonstrating authority, with a famous example being Mark Latham’s grip-like handshake with John Howard in 2004. “Our findings suggest that while doing so might look ­impressive for the cameras, this behaviour could potentially jeopardise the quality of their working and personal relationships from the beginning,” Dr Nagy said.

The team found participants showed less interactional enjoyment after the longer handshake, laughing less and showing increased anxiety. Handshakes lasting less than three seconds resulted in less subsequent smiling, but did feel more natural to those who participated.

PA