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Scientists have unraveled the secret of the handshake
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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The history of handshakes goes back to ancient times. Even primitive people had the habit of showing each other their palms when meeting, which meant good intentions and the absence of any weapons.
In the business world, a handshake has long established itself not only as a way of greeting, but also as an opportunity to make a good impression.
Researchers at the Beckman Institute have found that shaking hands before social interaction can improve rapport between people and reduce potential negative impressions of the person.
The scientists' findings provide the first scientific evidence to support the importance of handshakes and their role in social or business interactions. The findings could be useful for those who want to make a good impression.
"We found that a handshake has a positive effect on establishing contact between people and has the effect of correcting the negative impression that may be formed about a person at first glance," says study co-author Florin Dolcos.
The experts conducted an experiment with the participation of 18 volunteers, both men and women.
They watched videos where communication between a guest and the host took place. In one of the clips, the host greeted the guest with a handshake, in the other, he expressed greetings verbally, without shaking hands. Both situations depicted a business meeting of partners, but the outcome was different - the communication ended either with further interaction between the partners in the business sphere, or not.
The participants of the experiment assessed competence, interest in doing business and reliability on a 6-point scale. The participants gave much higher ratings to the video where the communication was preceded by a handshake, regardless of the outcome of the meeting. The strength of the handshake in this case is obvious, it disposes people to you, evokes feelings of reliability and trust.
In addition, experts were able to assess the impression of handshakes using magnetic resonance imaging. It turned out that the brain of observers reacts to handshakes in the following way: the area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens is activated when seeing a handshake, and the amygdala becomes more active when the greeting ends, which has a positive effect on business. Also, increased activity of the amygdala is associated with a noticeable reduction in stress.
Communication through tactile contact helps people mentally form an impression of a person and transform their feelings into the information necessary for further interaction.
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