Brits 'waving goodbye to handshake' - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

A new poll has revealed that the good old handshake is fast going out of vogue among Britons and is being replaced by touching fists, air kisses or waves. Researchers point out that online social networking has left fewer opportunities for people to come face-to-face and shake hands. The handshake, which evolved in medieval times, to let knights to show they were unarmed, is thought to be too formal for younger adults. A survey of 1,000 adults by Carex, a hand-wash brand, revealed that the custom of shaking hands is fading with each generation with 74percent confessing they shake hands less than they used to. It was found that almost 69percent of the people aged above 25 still shake hands to meet and greet while only 45percent of under-25s do the same. "In our evolutionary past, touch was the foundation of families and civilised coexistence, helping to reduce stress, violence and dissent," the Scotsman quoted Dr David Holmes of Manchester Metropolitan University, who conducted the research, as saying. "It is one of the most powerful forms of public touch that can be used in society today and it can leave a lasting impression on those touched," he added. "The handshake dying out can only be seen as a loss, particularly among the young, if you are certain it was something we did before," Professor Patrick O'Donnell of the department of psychology at the University of Glasgow, said. He added: "In the UK we have always been rather awkward and physically distant about this sort of thing and in Scotland many regarded it as definitely 'not on'. "While shaking hands and skin contact can be seen as bonding it tends to be used in very formal situations in business and when signing deals. "Younger people doing something like touching fists may in fact be doing something more meaningful because it is a genuine gesture of affection."