This post is co-authored by Ron Riggio and nonverbal communication expert Alan Crawley. When and why do we clap? We get startled, and we clap. We try to get our dog’s (or our child’s) attention, and ...

What makes us clap more for some performances than others? You'd think it's obvious: The better the show, the more applause. Think again. Guest host Linda Wertheimer explores how and why applause ...

Applause is greatly revered as a symbol of warmth and adoration from a crowd. TV shows that film in front of a live audience often cue their audiences to clap in order to generate the desired auditory ...

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I went to the symphony, which I've done for many years now. I know that proper symphony etiquette is to refrain from clapping between movements. Forgive Miss Manners; she has a ...

The quality of a performance does not drive the amount of applause an audience gives, a study suggests. Instead scientists have found that clapping is contagious, and the length of an ovation is ...

WERTHEIMER: But what makes us clap more for some performances than others? You'd think it's obvious: the better the show, the more applause. Think again. New research at Uppsala University in Sweden ...