What politicians’ hands reveal.
As you know, Americans are deep into the presidential campaign season, and speeches will be pouring in over the next few weeks. That’s why I want to share a fascinating study by Casasanto & Jasmin on how politicians’ hand gestures reflect their state of mind.
Righties and lefties
Most people have a dominant hand, usually the right, which they use more naturally to interact with the world.
This preference correlates with positive perception: right-handers tend to view people and objects more positively when they’re on the right side, while left-handers do the same when they’re on the left.
Dominant hands
The researchers looked at whether dominant and non-dominant hands were linked to emotional valence (our positive or negative mindset) outside the lab.
To test this,they analyzed a variety of gestures from American politicians, both right- and left-handed, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
Positive vs. negative speech
The results show that gestures made with the dominant hand are more closely associated with positive statements, with non-dominant gestures linked to negative statements. Put simply, righties use their right hand more for positive statements and their left hand for negative statements, and vice versa for lefties
In conclusion
Even though speakers mostly use their dominant hand, both hands play a role in contrasting emotional tones. This suggests politicians unconsciously “map” positive and negative emotions onto their gestures.
Fascinating, isn’t it?
