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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

hand is below, in the supine position. That's because<br />

prone positions are associated with dominance and<br />

control, while supine positions are connected with submission<br />

and passivity. Even if they are completely<br />

unaware <strong>of</strong> the position <strong>of</strong> their hands, the person whose<br />

hand is on top will feel more dominant, and<br />

the person whose hand is below will feel more<br />

submissive.<br />

Although we tend to think <strong>of</strong> handshakes as unimportant,<br />

they can reveal a great deal about the way people resolve<br />

issues <strong>of</strong> dominance. For a handshake to work it is<br />

essential that the participants co-operate so that their<br />

hands actually meet. By watching how people position<br />

their hands it's possible to see if both have their hands in<br />

the same position, or if one person is trying to gain the<br />

upper hand. What one person stands to gain by having<br />

their hand on top, the other stands to lose, not only<br />

by having their hand below, but also by having to accept<br />

that position in order to make the handshake work.<br />

Power <strong>Tells</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> way politicians shake hands tells us a lot about the<br />

silent expression <strong>of</strong> power. Like most men who occupy<br />

positions <strong>of</strong> power, President Harry Truman was used to<br />

having his own way, and this showed in the way he shook<br />

people's hands. When he met General Douglas MacArthur<br />

at Wake Island in 1950, the two <strong>of</strong> them were photographed<br />

shaking hands, with Truman's hand above and<br />

MacArthur's hand below. Consistent with this, Truman is<br />

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