Talking on how expressive the human hands are, Joe Navarro, a renowned as FBI agent wrote thus: “Human hands can paint the Sistine Chapel, pluck a guitar, maneuver surgical instruments, chisel a David, forge steel, and write poetry. They can grasp, scratch, poke, punch, feel, sense, evaluate, hold and mold the world around us.” According to the expert, our hands are inexplicably expressive as we can use them to sign for the deaf, help in telling a story or even reveal the innermost thoughts. There is no other species that has appendages with such a remarkable range of capabilities.
Despite the acquisition of spoken language over millions of years of human evolution, our brains are still hard-wired to engage our hands in accurately communicating our emotions, thoughts, and sentiments. Therefore, whether people are speaking or not, hand gestures merit our attention as a rich source of nonverbal behavior to help us understand the thoughts and feelings of others (Navarro, 2010). This same view is maintained by Changing Minds on its website. It states that: “Hands have 27 bones and are a very expressive part of our anatomy. The give us enormous capability as an evolved species in how we handle our environment. Reading palms is not just about the lines on your hand. After the face, hands probably the richest source of body language. A hand signal may be small, perhaps betraying subconscious thinking. It may also be exaggerated or done with both hands to emphasize the point.” This shows that your hands can always talk on your behalf, whether consciously or unconsciously. Before forging ahead, it is also worth noting that gestures with the hands vary significantly across cultures and an ‘innocent’ hand signal can get you arrested in another country. This means you must at all times pay attention to context.
It is interesting that our brain gives a disproportionate amount of attention to the fingers, and hands, as compared to the rest of the body. This could be in part because our first touch is with our hands and we seek the hands of our parents for safety or it is because the human hand can hold a weapon. For whatever the reason, we tend to focus on the hands and are mesmerized by them. Hitler used them to his advantage, as do magicians, orchestra conductors, and surgeons. So, you also can always use them to your advantage (Navarro, 2010).
Our hands tell people about a great deal of things going on in our heads. How we touch others is determined by how we feel about them. Full touch with the palm of the hand is warm and affectionate while touching with the fingertips betrays less affection. When we are comfortable and contented blood flows into the hands making them warm and pliable. Stress makes our hands feel colder and more rigid. You may not have noticed but when you feel strong and confident, the space between your fingers grows making your hands more territorial. When you feel insecure, that space disappears, in fact, you may find yourself tucking your thumbs under your fingers when under a lot of stress. When you feel confident, your thumbs will rise more often as you speak, especially if your fingers are intertwined in front of you (Navarro, 2010).
Cupped hands form a container which can hold gently. Gripping hands can hold tightly. Hands can hold both individually or together. Cupped hands can symbolize delicacy or hold a fragile idea. They may also be used for giving. Gripping can show possessiveness, ownership and desire (the tighter the fist, the stronger the feeling). Hands may also hold the self, such as when people hold their own hands, typically for comfort. Wringing the hands indicates more extreme nervousness. Holding the self can also be an act of restraint. This can be to let the other person talk. It can also be used when the person is angry, effectively stopping them from attacking. Holding hands behind the back opens the front and can show confidence. It may also conceal hands that display tension. When one hand holds the other arm, the higher the hold and tighter the grip, the greater the tension. Note also that people who are lying often try to control their hands, and when they are kept still (often holding one another), you might get suspicious. Another sign can be holding them behind the back. As ever, these are only possible indicators and you should also look for similar signs (Changing Minds, 2018).
A hand with palm down may figuratively hold or restrain the other person. This can be an authoritative action (‘Stop that now’) or may be a request (‘Please calm down’). This also appears in the dominant hand-on-top handshake. Palms down, leaning on a desk is usually dominant (‘I’m in charge’). A palm facing outward towards others fends them off or pushes them away in a more obvious way than the palms-down signal (‘Stop. Do not come any closer!’).A pointing finger or whole hand tells a person where to go (‘Leave now!’) (Changing Minds, 2018).
According to Navarro, you will steeple your fingers (fingertips together like a church steeple) more often when confident but it will vanish the moment you lack confidence or have insecurities. Steepling is important to get your point across that you feel strongly about what you are saying, it is probably the most powerful display of confidence that we possess (Navarro, 2010).
When you are stressed there will be more rubbing of the hands together (self-massaging or “pacifying”) which will increase in frequency and force commensurate with the stress. When things are really stressful, you will rub your hands together with fingers stretched out and interlaced (Teepee Hands). A behavior we reserve for when things are really bad. The first time we touch others is usually with a handshake. It may seem trivial, but get it wrong and it will leave a lasting negative impression. Get it right and you score emotional points. No one likes an aggressive handshake and vise-like grips are not appreciated (Navarro, 2010).
References
Changing Minds (2018). Hand Body Language. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/parts_body_language/hands_body_language.htm
Navarro, J (2010). Body Language of the Hands. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/spycatcher/201001/body-language-the-hands
Vanessa (2018). 20 Hand Gestures You Should Be Using. Retrieved from https://www.scienceofpeople.com/hand-gestures/
Images are from: https://www.freepik.com/, https://www.pexels.com/ (C) 2022, Alan Elangovan, All Copy Rights Reserved.