Handshaking promotes deal-making by signaling cooperative intent

Bibliographic Data

ID6204068
AuthorsJonathan Schroeder (0000-0002-0538-0730, University of California, Berkeley), Juliana Schroeder, Jane L Risen (0000-0003-4879-1705, University of Chicago), Francesca Gino (0000-0002-9794-482X, Harvard University), Michael I Norton
Year2019
Volume116
Issue5
Pages743-768
Publication date2019-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/pspi0000157
PMID30550327
OpenAlexW2903837040
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited59

We examine how a simple handshake-a gesture that often occurs at the outset of social interactions-can influence deal-making. Because handshakes are social rituals, they are imbued with meaning beyond their physical features. We propose that during mixed-motive interactions, a handshake is viewed as a signal of cooperative intent, increasing people's cooperative behavior and affecting deal-making outcomes. In Studies 1a and 1b, pairs who chose to shake hands at the onset of integrative negotiations obtained better joint outcomes. Study 2 demonstrates the causal impact of handshaking using experimental methodology. Study 3 suggests a driver of the cooperative consequence of handshaking: negotiators expected partners who shook hands to behave more cooperatively than partners who avoided shaking hands or partners whose nonverbal behavior was unknown; these expectations of cooperative intent increased negotiators' own cooperation. Study 4 uses an economic game to demonstrate that handshaking increased cooperation even when handshakes were uninstructed (vs. instructed). Further demonstrating the primacy of signaling cooperative intent, handshaking actually reduced cooperation when the action signaled ill intent (e.g., when the hand-shaker was sick; Study 5). Finally, in Study 6, executives assigned to shake hands before a more antagonistic, distributive negotiation were less likely to lie about self-benefiting information, increasing cooperation even to their own detriment. Together, these studies provide evidence that handshakes, ritualistic behaviors imbued with meaning beyond mere physical contact, signal cooperative intent and promote deal-making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

Computer security · Delegation · Handshake · Handshaking · Meaning (existential) · Negotiation · Political science · Psychotherapist · Sociology · Communication · Computer Science · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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