| The current study was focused on impressions of hand movements. A specific emphasis was placed on distinguishing the two types of self-touching: functional and nonfunctional. Undergraduates rated video-only segments of other encoders describing past affective experiences. Segments varied with respect to hand movements displayed: functional self-touching (rubbing eye, scratching nose, etc.), nonfunctional self-touching (fidgeting with hands, fingers), or no movement. Raters judged how nervous, confident, distracted, agitated, hostile, and genuine encoders appeared in each segment.; As expected, there was a significant effect for judgments of various adjective rating scales among the hand movements. Post hoc tests isolated significant differences between nonfunctional self-touching and functional self-touching for several rating scales. Significant differences were also isolated between each self-touching action and no hand movement. Overall, nonfunctional self-touching was perceived as more negative than functional self-touching. These findings suggest that the different types of self-touching are viewed differently by observers and these actions may function in distinct ways. Discussion is focused on the importance of understanding the perceptions that specifically apply to each form of self-touching, and how the impressions may differ. |
