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Linda Carroll writes: When it’s time to discuss his favorite things, President Barack Obama favors the left. Hand, that is.
Scientists have discovered that those who are left-handed, like Obama, tend to use that hand to gesture when they’re talking about things they feel positive about, and their right hand for things that are negative. For right-handed people, it’s the opposite.
In a study published this month in PloS ONE, researchers examined tapes from the final presidential debates from 2004 and 2008 to see if they could spot a right/left bias in the hand gestures of the candidates. As it turns out, both candidates in 2004 were righties, while in 2008 they were both lefties.
Sure enough, the politicians unwittingly communicated their feelings about a topic by the hand with which they gestured while speaking. So, when Obama launching into an enthusiastic discussion about the benefits of his health insurance plans he would use his left hand. If the topic was the war in Iraq, he’d gesture with his right hand.
The opposite was true of right-handed George Bush – positive words were emphasized with right handed gestures, negative ones with left handed movements.
Associating good things with the side of your dominant hand extends beyond just gestures. Researchers found that if you’re right-handed you’re more inclined to think that in general things on the right are good, while left oriented stuff – people, images, whatever – is bad. (The converse is true for you lefties out there.)
In one experiment, study volunteers were shown a drawing that depicted a group of space aliens sitting side by side. On average, righties concluded that the aliens on the right end of the picture were smarter, happier, more honest and more attractive than those on the left. Lefties liked the extraterrestrials on the left better.
“Overall, the data support the idea that people associate good things with the side of the body they can use most fluently – dominant is fluent, and fluent is good,” says the study’s lead author Daniel Casasanto of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
It’s a good example of how our bodies influence the way we think without our ever knowing anything about it, says Diane Halpern, a professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College.
We’re thinking this right/left thing could be a quick and dirty lie detector. Let’s say your boss is about to evaluate your work -- you might want to pay close attention to which hand is moving as she talks.
What body language do you think reveals the most? Tell us in the comments.
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Leave a Comment:
And how do you tell when he's lying - his lips are moving.
Well Belle you feel better now...Bush is still the king of stupid!
Bush ''stupid''? I think u just insulted all the stupid people out there LOL
Isn't Bush old news? He has been replaced with this new idiot by the people. And what is the point of trashing either in an article like this (as fun as it might be)?
Only a right wing nut would find something negative to say regarding the President in an article about handedness. sheesh
How can you tell what Sarah Palin really thinks? READ her hand........
belle bobby, stfu.
All this is interesting.. and funny! I gesticulate a lot.. and usually use BOTH hands at the same time... and usually they "shape" what I may be talking about, especially when I feel strongly about something. Outflung, "forget it... get with the program"; an open 'globe'... the two hands encircling (open at top and at wrists) "a wonderful idea... worth remembering.. "several more, I won't bore you with. But I see this in other people too.
... like arms tucked in at the waist, and hands up, fingers together, facing outward; means "No I don't believe you" and if similar motion of your own faces towards you... lol "me? Lying? Never!" (except it usually is a damaging admission that you are stretching the truth)
LOL... Now. How does all that fit into the studies???? hmmmmm?
lol, guess you are an ambidextrous person, you can use both sides almost equally well. I too find myself using both hands when I am talking, and i can write legibly with both hands.
I would give my left hand to be ambidextrous
You don't need to look at Obama hands or eyes or any body movement. He is too polished of a look in your face liar, like John Kerry.
You just need to follow the line of people being fired or replace, that tells it all and he has had a pretty good turn over so far. So in other words he is a liar.
Have you all notice that they now say S.S. is broke already! Now go figure..what was it 2039, then 2025, then 2017, and now its all gone. Take into another factor. The number of people working back then in the baby boom to today's population, it at least 3 to 1 in today's population favor and they are paying more in today then back then, and counting all the wars/conflicts, traffic, cancer, other health issues I would bet to say those conditions effected the baby boomers far more then today's situations.
So to make a long story short, ITS ALL BULLCRAP, they are blowing smoke up your butts and you all are believing it..
The problem is the government won't keep its fingers out of our S.S. account, Just how to you think all these bills get passed and pay for? The bail out money came out of our butts, the other bills, like pork, save the ant, and the recent save the teachers, etc, comes out of our S.S. Bush use S.S. to fight the 2 wars and rightfully so for we were attack and don't get into it with me about who did what concerning Iraq and Afgan, for I have done my homework and read up on it. Not like you democrats and liberals who tune into CNN and believe that crap. For either your to lazy to read or can't.
But the main point is the government is lying to us and I mean right to our faces and this is Obama's watch period. How do you go from the yr 2039 to now over night? Na, we are being lied to big time.
You chose to follow and believe Obama and his merry band of lying democrats, well that's you choice, but do some reading or hired a illegal for a few bucks and have him/her read for you. Then if you can face the truth and most of you can't. You will see what this admin is doing and what Clinton did to us. He gave us 9/11 for one.
Vote them OUT!
leave it to another ''Rebublican-till-I-die'' person to leave a comment like this. It doesnt matter what the democrats say or do, they r wrong because they are democrats - right?
What an @sshole
We don't need to watch his entire hand to see what he thinks of the American people...just his middle finger.
DMAN........... ummmmmmm. .........
it was REPUBLICANS in 1981 who adopted the strategy of "starve the beast" ie.......... to mortgage to government to the hilt thru tax cuts and high spending in order to create a budget crisis! They accomplished it: about 80% of our current national debt was run up under JUST the last 3 GOP presidents!! When reagan took office, the debt was under $1T; When bush left office it was $10.6T + TARP!! They've accomplished their goal!
WHY you say??? Part 2 was to then begin eliminating SS. medicare etc and then privatize them! You can now hear them advocating that, tho quietly and in softer sounding words. They want private businesses to get a hold of the billions that people pay into SS. ALL of this is documented if you do just a LITTLE research!!
PS..... Dumb arrticle! What Pres. Obama's left hand really says is that he intends to seigzed the government by force, declare martial law, suspend the constitution and establish a dictatorship!!! The FEMA camps are ready!! I kid you not----- this is what many righties are saying!! Good grief!!
Actually, you got way off track by injecting your political views here. That was lovely. Thank you. It all started out with body language and what it reveals. SecondSight, you're right on target!!! When people use both hands to gesture and speak as an extension of their words, since we are whole beings and not just mouths or hands, we make whole communication more effective by using everything we possess, so then, this is just a scientific observation as to people's body language and what it can reveal. If I had to sit on my hands while I talk, I would be speechless!!!! Of course we cater to the side we write with, it's our dominant side, and so what? It's an indicator, that's it. But we also speak with our faces including our eyebrows and noses and other muscles too. This was merely an outlet for observation to give you a better edge on detecting when someone may be twisting the truth or speaking forthrightly. It's a good piece of psychological knowledge and that's all. Accept something good in terms of adding knowledge to yourself. It's all good. By using the president as an example, they were merely demonstrating their case in point. And besides, it's bad manners to point when you talk. Maybe this should have been a discussion on proper etiquette instead????? FFT.
Peace Out
I find using my left hand, which I don't very often unless pairing it with my right hand, is a sign of exploring a new thought or idea, a sign of using the creative side of my right-handed brain.
I guess you judge others by the way you behave!!! Only in this case, you are the only liar!!!!
Hmmm, seems no one noticed that the title of the article is worded incorrectly. It should say what Obama really thinks instead of what really Obama thinks.
Thinking of left handed individuals I have known some favored their left hand for certain activities. I'm off to test the guy in the next room. He is one of the left...sometimes right...types. I gesture a lot. I hope I catch myself off guard and notice the hand that dominates in a conversation. Could it tell me something about myself? Maybe I believe I hold one opinion but actually harbor different feelings.
The article has left out a few variables that might have altered or negated the research findings. Perhaps a political figure does not agree with a certain policy he is advocating. Perhaps this support is only meant to court the party line. Which hand might he use if his true thoughts are the opposite of what he is verbally indicating? What if this individual is ambidextrous? Is this for fun?
GO Lefty, Left Handed People are the most discriminated against minority in the world.
Left handed people are abnormal!
Lovely and interesting article!!! See or portal.unn.edu.ng for more articles as good as this.