Shake and Sniff: The Surprising Thing We Do After Shaking Hands

Shaking hands is such a dignified way of greeting someone. It is one of the evolutionary advancements which separate we superior human beings from the lesser beasts who still wander around unceremoniously sniffing each other. Or is it?

The handshake—a universal greeting in many cultures—may also exchange chemical signals between the shakers, according to a new study. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel found that subjects who shook hands with a stranger were twice as likely to smell their own fingers afterward, compared to those who merely said “hello.”

So maybe practicing a firm handshake and making eye contact is just a cover. Perhaps we really revert to our basic instincts when it comes to sussing each other out.

The research team concluded that the post-handshake sniffs enable “social chemosignaling.”In other words, it’s a way for humans to detect and analyze the subtle chemical signals that we all give off, which can subconsciously signify fear and other emotions. And no, before you ask, this wasn’t just people scratching their noses—the subjects were also hooked up to instruments that monitored air flow.

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