The Definitive Book of Body Language - Barbara Pease [14]
The hands have been the most important tools in human evolution and there are more connections between the brain and the hands than between any other body parts. Few people ever consider how their hands behave or the way they shake hands when they meet someone. Yet those first five to seven pumps establish whether dominance, submission, or power plays will take place. Throughout history, the open palm has been associated with truth, honesty, allegiance, and submission. Many oaths are still taken with the palm of the hand over the heart, and the palm is held in the air when somebody is giving evidence in a court of law; the Bible is held in the left hand and the right palm held up for the members of the court to view. One of the most valuable clues to discovering whether someone is being open and honest—or not—is to watch for palm displays. Just as a dog will expose its throat to show submission or surrender to the victor, humans use their palms to show that they are unarmed and therefore not a threat.
Submissive dogs reveal their throats.
Humans show their palms.
How to Detect Openness
When people want to be open or honest, they will often hold one or both palms out to the other person and say something like, “I didn't do it!” or “I'm sorry if I upset you” or “I'm telling you the truth.” When someone begins to open up or be truthful, they will likely expose all or part of their palms to the other person. Like most body-language signals, this is a completely unconscious gesture, one that gives you an “intuitive” feeling or hunch that the other person is telling the truth.
“Trust me—I'm a doctor”
The palms are intentionally used everywhere to imply an open, honest approach
When children are lying or concealing something, they'll often hide their palms behind their back. Similarly, a man who wants to conceal his whereabouts after a night out with the boys might hide his palms in his pockets, or in an arms-crossed position, when he tries to explain to his partner where he was. However, the hidden palms may give her an intuitive feeling that he is not telling the truth. A woman who is trying to hide something will try to avoid the subject or talk about a range of unrelated topics while doing various other activities at the same time.
When men lie, their body language can be obvious.
Women prefer to look busy as they lie.
Salespeople are taught to watch for a customer's exposed palms when he gives reasons or objections about why he can't buy a product, because when someone is giving valid reasons, they usually show their palms. When people are being open in explaining their reasons, they use their hands and flash their palms, whereas someone who isn't telling the truth is likely to give the same verbal responses but conceal their hands.
Keeping their hands in their pockets is a favorite ploy of men who don't want to participate in a conversation. The palms were originally like the vocal cords of body language because they did more “talking” than any other body part and putting them away was like keeping one's mouth shut.
Palms-in-Pockets: Prince William showing the media that he doesn't want to talk
Intentional Use of the Palms to Deceive
Some people ask, “If I tell a lie and keep my palms visible, will people be more likely to believe me?” The answer is yes—and no. If you tell an outright lie with your palms exposed, you might still appear insincere to your listeners because many of the other gestures that should also be visible when displaying honesty are absent and the negative gestures used during lying will appear and will be incongruent with the open palms. Con artists and professional liars are people who have developed the special art of making their nonverbal signals complement their verbal lies. The more effectively the professional con artist can use the body language of honesty when telling a lie, the better he is at his job.
“Will you still love me when I'm old and gray?”she asked, palms
visible.“Not only will I love you,”he replied,” l'll write to you.”