144 W H A T EVERY BODY IS SAYING
with someone who has sweaty hands, you can assume he or she is under
stress (since limbic arousal causes sweating). Use this opportunity to win
some interpersonal points by unobtrusively doing what you can to help the
person calm down. Putting people at ease when they are stressed is one of
the best ways to insure more honest, effective, and successful interactions.
There are people who erroneously believe that if you have sweaty
palms, you must be lying. This is simply not accurate. The same part of
the nervous system that is activated during the limbic freeze, flight, or
fight response (the sympathetic nervous system) also governs our sweat
glands. Since something as simple as meeting someone new can cause
sweaty hands, this phenomenon must not be construed as indicative of
deception. Approximately 5 percent of the population sweats profusely,
and chronic perspiration makes the palms uncomfortably sweaty (a con-
dition known as hyperhidrosis) (Collett, 2003, 11). Sweaty palms are not
indicative of deception. They are only indicative of stress or, in some cases,
a genetic disorder. Be careful when evaluating the reasons for moist hands.
Although some sources state that a person is lying if his palms are sweaty,
this is simply not true.
READING NONVERBALS OF THE HANDSUp to this point, we have been examining how our hand behaviors and
appearance can influence the way others perceive us. Now let’s examine
some nonverbals of the hands that will help us read what other people
are thinking and feeling. I’ll start with a few general comments about
how our hands reveal information and then turn to some specific hand
behaviors of high and low confidence that can be useful in understand-
ing the people we encounter.
Nervousness in the Hands Sends an Important MessageThe muscles that control our hands and fingers are designed for pre-
cise and fine movements. When the limbic brain is aroused and we are