What you tell with a handshake ...( 300th Post )

Over the years, I meet people and naturally, a great deal of handshakes.( with a great deal of bacteria passing on from one person to another ! ha ha ha ) but that is not the deal. I received a comment recently and the person, a guy said I have a pretty firm handshake. At first, I didnt take much notice of it, but it got me thinking...

so.. i googled and found some interesting reads:

Study Shows How A Firm Handshake Affects First Impressions; May Provide An Effective Initial Form of Self-Promotion for Women
( taken from The American Psychological Association (APA) website )

Results of the study, according to lead author William F. Chaplin, Ph.D., show that a person's handshake is consistent over time and is related to some aspects of his or her personality. Those with a firm handshake were more extraverted and open to experience and less neurotic and shy than those with a less firm or limp handshake. The researchers say these results demonstrate that personality traits, assessed through the self-report, can predict specific behaviors assessed by trained observers.

The study did identify some sex differences. Males were generally found to have firmer handshakes than women. Also, women who are more liberal, intellectual and open to new experiences were found to have a firmer handshake and made a more favorable impression than women who were less open and had a less firm handshake. For men, the opposite was found; more open men had a slightly less firm handshake and made a somewhat poorer impression than less open men.

hmm.... And there are sites telling you what consitutes a 'perfect handshake'!