Men and Women Holding Hands: Whose Hand is Uppermost?

Abstract

This study explored the issue of whether status and power differences are expressed in the way men and women hold hands. It was hypothesized that men's hands would be upper in heterosexual handholding couples significantly more often than women's Also, to explore the possibility that height differences of handholding partners might affect handholding position, all handholding couples observed in this study were classified as couples with men and women of equal height or couples where either the men or women were taller. A total of 1,006 handholding couples were observed, and men's hands were significantly more likely to be the upper one in couples when men were taller than women and in couples where men and women were of equal height, suggesting that, while height does matter, it is less important for this handholding pattern than sex differences.