Shaking hands
The shaking hands (also: the handshake ) is a common in many Western countries nonverbal welcoming and closing ritual . In other cultures, however, it is traditionally uncommon or limited to same-sex contacts - especially among men.
As with many other welcoming ceremonies , it is usually performed with the right hand , except for the handshake of the boy scout salute , there with the left. The hands clasp for a few seconds and are often rhythmically moved up and down. If this movement is missing, it is sometimes referred to as a handshake . A forerunner is likely to be waving , which originally served to present the opposite of the empty hand of a weapon . When shaking hands, there is also direct body contact . Depending on the culture, the hug and kiss on the cheek can be seen as even more intimate .
In the western world, a strong handshake when shaking hands is usually a sign of self-confidence, strength, and willpower. A very weak handshake, however, can evoke negative associations. In other regions, however, especially in Asian countries, a strong handshake is considered impolite and rude.
Public shaking of hands in media society is sometimes repeated several times at the request of cameramen and photographers .
It is to be distinguished from holding hands , which is a form of expression for the affection between two people.
From a health perspective, shaking hands, especially with people who do not belong to your own household, is controversial for reasons of infection protection. In particular , pathogens transmitted by droplet and smear infection are passed on by shaking hands. In the course of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 , there were increasing calls to refrain from shaking hands. Celebrities and top politicians who nevertheless continued to practice this form of greeting in public were exposed to criticism.
background
When shaking hands, those involved take a smell sample of the other person. Scientists have found that people often put a hand to their face after greeting someone. The reason for this is the analysis of the body's own fragrances transmitted when shaking hands .
history
The tradition of shaking hands was already known in the Roman Empire . Shaking hands can be found on Roman coins as a symbol of unity . In the time of the republic , the gesture was only common when they met again after a long absence or as an expression of special solidarity. It only became more common in the imperial era . In the New Testament , Paul's letter to the Galatians (written around 50 AD) mentions that Paul was given the "right hand of friendship" when he left in Jerusalem. The custom probably came into its current form through the Quakers in the 17th century as a simplistic and more equal form of greeting ( etiquette ).
Germany
During the time of National Socialism , shaking hands was replaced by the Hitler salute, which at the time was considered the "German greeting". In the GDR , the handshake made it into the party logo of the SED . The handshake should symbolize the unity of the labor movement and the overcoming of the division. In fact, the forced unification of the SPD and KPD to form the SED took place against the resistance of numerous social democrats. The contemporary, stylized graphics were popularly derided as "chopped off hands".
While the normative function of shaking hands in West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) has decreased considerably since the 1968 movement , it has been increased in the GDR (e.g. individual handshaking when joining larger groups). A survey showed that 70 percent of East Germans greet their friends and acquaintances with a handshake, compared to only about 40 percent of West Germans.
In 2017, Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) listed shaking hands as a welcome in his ten-point catalog on a German dominant culture to which all immigrants would have to adapt.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic , the Robert Koch Institute urgently advised not to shake hands in March 2020.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, a school authority in the canton of Basel-Landschaft made handshakes with teachers mandatory for all students in 2016 . This decision was preceded by a debate about the priority of general school rules on the one hand and religious freedom on the other. The reason for the debate was the refusal of two Muslim students to give their teacher the handshake provided at school. As a reason, they had stated that they wanted to show respect for women.
France
In June 2016, an Algerian married to a French was supposed to be naturalized. At the naturalization ceremony (cérémonie d'accueil dans la citoyenneté française) in the Isère department , she refused to shake hands with the responsible official and a local politician. She referred to her "religious belief", which forbids her to touch strange men. As a result, she was not granted citizenship; she complained against it. The then Prime Minister Cazeneuve issued a decree on April 20, 2017. The highest French administrative court, the Conseil d'État , finally confirmed the decree on April 11, 2018.
Netherlands
In November 2015, Nacer Barazite , a football player at FC Utrecht and Muslim, gave an interview to Fox TV after a league game . Then he shook hands with the reporter, as usual, but not the reporter's hand. This was later brought up on talk shows and social media.
Conclusion of contract
Shaking hands can also be done as a confirmation of an agreement (conclusion of contract), e.g. B. between business people, betting partners, politicians or between employers and employees, whereby the latter must put down the essential content in writing within four weeks in accordance with the Evidence Act . The American mobster Carmine Tramunti was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the 1970s because a handshake with a drug dealer observed by an investigator was interpreted as an agreement to enter into a drug deal. This was referred to in a scene in the film Goodfellas .
From the greeting of peace to the "modus operandi"
A handshake as a greeting of peace has become common in Christian worship services . It is usually exchanged between those taking part in the service before the Lord's Supper / Communion is given .
In contrast, a handshake can also be part of the modus operandi of a capital crime ; so the murder of the gang leader Dean O'Banion on November 10, 1924 in the press was known as "Handshake Murder" (en: handshake / handshake murder), since after the then assumed course of events Frankie Yale the hand of the victim after the handshake Had not let go of the greeting and thus suppressed his potential defense against his murder by the companions of Yale ( John Scalise and Albert Anselmi ).
Medical and hygienic aspects
According to an overview study published in 2007, shaking hands seems to be the most important transmission path for infections such as colds or gastrointestinal diseases , in addition to joint contact between people and surfaces such as door handles . The risk of infection is increased by the fact that people, without realizing it, very often touch their mouth , nose and / or eyes with their hands . In this way, pathogens can be passed from one person to another. In order to avoid infection, the researchers therefore recommend good hand hygiene , the central part of which is thorough hand washing with soap .
During the medical examination, shaking hands or the force exerted by the patient (the handshake in the medical sense) can provide an orientation indication of the motor coordination ability and so-called “gross strength”. Shaking hands may be more difficult in the case of coordination disorders, and reduced handshakes in the case of muscular diseases or sarcopenia . According to a study on patients over the age of 85, the measured handshake correlates with the specific mortality rate to be expected .
Religious judgment
Islam
In Islamic societies, shaking hands between men and women is sometimes rejected. For example, the Saudi Grand Mufti ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz said in a fatwa that shaking hands between men and women who are not in an exclusive relationship is prohibited. He justified this, among other things, with a hadith according to which the Prophet Mohammed said: "I do not shake hands with women". The Shiite cleric Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935-2010), who temporarily acted as the religious head of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, said that shaking hands between men and women was forbidden in Islam. The aim of this ban is to dissuade people from approaching a "perversion" ( inḥirāf ).
The controversial scholar and television preacher Yūsuf al-Qaradāwī , who lives in Qatar , took a somewhat more nuanced view. He ruled that shaking hands between men and women is permissible when there is no “sexual desire” ( šahwa ) or “temptation” ( fitna ) involved. The same applies to shaking hands between a man and a beardless youth ( amrad ). In addition, al-Qaradāwī recommends that the handshake should be kept briefly in order to avert any doubt ( šubha ). But for the devout Muslim and the devout Muslim woman it is better not to shake hands himself, but only to do so when the hand is held out.
In a video message, Tarafa Baghajati pleads for more serenity in dealing with the issue of handshakes between the sexes.
Judaism
In parts of Orthodox Judaism , a handshake between men and women is rejected because, according to their interpretation of the Halacha , the handshake is also prohibited by the guidelines of Jichud and Giluj Arajot ("improper relationships") on avoiding undivided togetherness and physical approach. Outside of Orthodox circles, handshakes between different sexes are also common in Judaism.
Hinduism
According to the Namaste ( añjali mudrā ), a two-handed handshake between men is also common among traditional Hindus , in which the socially superior person grips the two hands of the other person. Traditionally, however, men never shake hands with women in this way, but leave it at the non-contact añjali mudrā .
art
In the fine arts there have been representations of a handshake, called dexiosis, since ancient times . They mostly symbolize the bond between two people, but also between cities and empires through the handshake of the rulers.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Coronavirus: Why we shouldn't shake hands , Northern Bavaria, accessed on March 18, 2020
- ↑ Rutte and Virus Etiquette: The Handshake Fail , Der Spiegel Online, accessed on March 18, 2020
- ↑ Konrad Lehmann: Why do we shake hands in greeting? Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
- ^ Karl-Wilhelm Weeber : Everyday life in ancient Rome. A lexicon , sv greeting . Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 1998, p. 47.
- ↑ Christine Hoffmann: These are the differences in East and West , Welt Online , June 4, 2009, accessed on May 6, 2017.
- ↑ De Maizières Leitkultur-Richtschnur , Tagesschau.de , May 2, 2017, accessed on May 6, 2017.
- ↑ Federal Ministry of Health How long does the virus remain active in the air?
- ↑ Decision in Switzerland: Muslim students have to shake hands with the teacher. Der Spiegel, May 25, 2016, accessed on May 25, 2016 .
- ↑ En quoi consiste la cérémonie d'accueil dans la citoyenneté française?
- ↑ Stéphanie Alexandre: Pas de poignée de main avec le préfet, pas de nationalité française. In: Le Figaro - Le Particulier. April 16, 2018, accessed April 16, 2019 (French).
- ↑ Conseil d'Etat n ° 412462 du 11/04/2018: full text
- ↑ spiegel.de: handshake denied - women may be denied naturalization
- ↑ spiegel.de November 5, 2015: Muslim professional refuses to shake hands with a reporter
- ↑ Bloomfield, S. et al., In: American Journal of Infection Control, Volume 35, S. S27, December 2007 The effectiveness of hand hygiene procedures in reducing the risks of infections in home and community settings including handwashing and alcohol-based hand sanitizers . See also report in: Why kissing is better than shaking hands. In: Wissenschaft.de. December 21, 2007, accessed September 8, 2019 .
- ↑ CH Ling include: Hand grip strength and mortality in the oldest old population: the Leiden 85-plus study. CMAJ (2010) PMID 20142372 ( full text as pdf )
- ↑ See the translation of the fatwa on the website http://www.islamfatwa.de/soziale-angelektiven/91-gesellschaft-aktuelles/regel-nichtmahram-mann-frau/271-das-haendeschuetteln-von-frauen-a- men The website states, "Shaking the hands of women whose mahram one is not is not allowed. This is because of what the Prophet salla llahu alayhi wa-sallam said when women came to him for their oath of allegiance to swear: "I don't shake hands with women." (Reported by Maalik, Ahmad , Al-Nasaa'i, At-Tirmidi and Ibn Maajah. Al-Albaani has classified him as sahiih in 'Sahiih al-Jaami', vol. 1, p. 494) It is also used by Aisha ' s (radiya-llahu anha) statement confirms: "By Allah, the hand of the Messenger (salla-llahu alayhi wa sallam) never touched any other woman (other than his wives). He would only take their oaths verbatim." (Al-Bukhaari and Muslim ) "
- ↑ Cf. Ǧamāl al-Bannā : al-Marʾa al-muslima baina taḥrīr al-qurʾān wa-taqyīd al-fuqahāʾ . Dār al-Fikr al-islāmī, Cairo, 1997. p. 171.
- ↑ Cf. Ǧamāl al-Bannā: al-Marʾa al-muslima baina taḥrīr al-qurʾān wa-taqyīd al-fuqahāʾ . Dār al-Fikr al-islāmī, Cairo, 1997. p. 169.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUA3RoqZnK4
- ↑ Islam does not forbid shaking hands. In: kurier.at. November 13, 2016, accessed December 30, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.de/2016/11/01/handschlag-muslim-botschaft_n_12745784.html Video message Tarafa Baghajati
- ↑ " Respect Different Cultures" . Jewish General, November 26, 2015.
- ↑ Sivaya Subramuniyaswami: How to Become a Hindu: A Guide for Seekers and Born Hindus . Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2002, p. 345.
