Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met with Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida on 24 April 2023 in Tokyo. His wife, Casey DeSantis accompanied him. The above image shows the couple just after they had walked through a doorway and in view of some Press.
*The corresponding descriptions appear below each of the following images.*
Note that the couple were holding hands — and Casey DeSantis’ hand is positioned in front.
In about 96% of the time, when male-female couples are holding hands, the man’s hand is positioned front. There are several reasons for this gendered behavioral asymmetry.
Male shoulders are typically rotated slightly inward while female shoulders are usually rotated slightly outward. These anatomical tendencies lend themselves, fairly strongly, for the man’s hand to usually be placed in front.
So when we see a male-female couple holding hands with the woman’s hand in front we know there’s a strong behavioral override factor present — a behavior that outweighs the anatomic tendency for just the opposite.
If we look a second or two prior, we can see that Casey DeSantis initiated this hand holding.
Some men will view themselves as being a protector — thus putting themselves/their hands in front.
Some men will view themself as the dominant person in the relationship — and placing a hand or any body part in front of or on top of their partner is classic dominance behavior.
Overlapping with dominance are the motives of controlling and subordinating others. A hand on top is a method of direct control and subjugation of others (The euphemism, “Gaining an upper hand” is not simply a metaphor).
It’s crucial to point out that simply because a man’s hand is held in front, it does not automatically indicate that he’s the dominant person in the relationship or that he’s a “control freak”.
Moreover, hand holding can be (and usually is) an affection display. And affection is one of the deepest human needs.
However, because of the anatomical bias for a man’s hand to be in front, when we see the woman’s hand consistently in front, we can, with high confidence, know that she is the dominant of the two (which, of course, is independent of affection).
It’s also important to point out that Casey DeSantis’ hand is not always in front when the couple are holding hands. But lately, since Ron DeSantis’ favorability rating has been slipping, this pattern has predominated.
SUMMARY: Casey DeSantis’ hand-holding in front (particularly since she initiated the hand holding) is, with very high probability, an indication of her dominance as well as Ron DeSantis’ lowering confidence and increasing emotional discomfort as his poll numbers fall.
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This post and other accompanying it, serve as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts.
