The majority of adults still believe shaking hands is an important tradition. Three-quarters of parents taking part in a Purell poll feel their children should know how to give a proper handshake by the time they start school, and 76-percent note they learned how to shake hands from someone in their family. But 25-percent of respondents say they've discouraged their kids from shaking hands with others -- with nearly 70-percent citing germs as the reason they oppose the practice. More than a quarter of adults describe themselves as a "germaphobe," including 21-percent of men and 30-percent of women. More younger Americans are afraid of germs than older folks. While 42-percent of Millennials admit to being germ-phobic, only 27-percent of Gen Xers and just 21-percent of Boomers share this fear.
The fist bump is gaining acceptance as the reluctance to shake hands grows. Four out of five Americans note they're shaking hands less frequently than they did back in the 1980s. Just under half say they're replaced the handshake with the fist bump.
