VU University Amsterdam.
Psychol Sci. 2014 Jan;25(1):30-7. doi: 10.1177/0956797613483478. Epub 2013 Nov 4.
Individuals with low (rather than high) self-esteem often struggle with existential concerns. In the present research, we examined whether these existential concerns may be alleviated by seemingly trivial experiences of both real and simulated interpersonal touch. A brief touch on the shoulder by a female experimenter led individuals with low self-esteem to experience less death anxiety (Study 1) and more social connectedness after a death reminder (Study 2). Reminding individuals with low self-esteem of death increased their desire for touch, as indicated by higher value estimates of a teddy bear, a toy animal that simulates interpersonal touch (Study 3). Finally, holding a teddy bear (vs. a cardboard box) led individuals with low self-esteem to respond to a death reminder with less defensive ethnocentrism (Study 4). Individuals with high self-esteem were unaffected by touch (Studies 1-4). These findings highlight the existential significance of embodied touch experiences, particularly for individuals with low self-esteem.
低自尊个体通常会为存在问题而苦恼。在本研究中，我们探讨了真实和模拟人际触摸的微不足道的体验是否能减轻这些存在问题。研究 1 中，女性实验者轻拍肩膀会使低自尊个体在死亡提醒后更少地感到死亡焦虑；研究 2 中，在死亡提醒后更有社交联系。对低自尊个体进行死亡提醒会增加他们对触摸的渴望，这可以通过对泰迪熊（一种模拟人际触摸的玩具动物）的更高价值评估来体现（研究 3）。最后，研究 4 表明，与拿着硬纸板盒相比，拿着泰迪熊会使低自尊个体对死亡提醒的反应更不具有防御性种族中心主义。高自尊个体不受触摸影响（研究 1-4）。这些发现强调了具身触摸体验的存在意义，尤其是对低自尊个体而言。
