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Essay on The Use of Hand Gestures
Channel surfing, writing, eating, and playing the piano: These are all activities that could not be easily performed without the use of our precious hands. Of course, our lives would be tremendously difficult without the use of our hands. All tactile activities would require a new method of execution. At least talking to one another would still be easy. Right? As much as we may believe that we can communicate successfully without our bodies, a large portion of human communication comes in nonverbal forms. Hand gesture is perhaps the most blatant example of nonverbal communication. However, is the use of hand gestures necessary for a successful conversation? If so, how frequently do we use them, and which cultures use them more than others? More interestingly, which gender tends to use this form of nonverbal communication most often in American society?
Much information is extracted from the way we use our hands when we greet one another, starting with the handshake. In the United States, an individual with a firm handshake represents a person with a strong personality, while a weak handshake does just the opposite (Ahmad et al 1997). Furthermore, an American handshake consists of a grasp of the hand and moving the arm up and down a couple of times. In European countries, specifically in France, a handshake has one fluid movement: up then down. In addition, there is the handshake where both hands are used. This particular handshake sends a more welcoming message to the receiver. In observation, this type of handshake was used more frequently with political figures, when greeting representatives of other nations.
The role of hand gestures in communication has been the focus of numerous psychological studies. Some researchers believe that hand gestures have a positive effect on the communication process..................
