Krahé Charlotte, Fotopoulou Aikaterini, Hammond Claudia, Banissy Michael J, Koukoutsakis Athanasios, Jenkinson Paul M
School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
Eur J Soc Psychol. 2024 Jun 4. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.3076.
Touch is a key channel for conveying meaning in social interactions. The affective quality of touch and its effects on well-being are shaped by relational context (relationship between touch giver vs. recipient) and person variables (e.g. adult attachment style). Yet, such effects have not been explored in relation to the ascribed to touch. We used data from the Touch Test, the world's largest touch survey, which included questions on the degree to which people felt and related specific emotions and intentions to imagined gentle stroking touch and hugs. In = 23,428, we examined how relational context (imagined source of touch) and person variables (gender, recalled positive childhood touch and adult attachment style) were associated with positive (e.g. love, desire, support) and negative (e.g. fear, anger, warning) emotions and intentions related to imagined touch. Love, desire and support were endorsed more when participants had had their partner (vs. someone else) in mind, and women (vs. men) gave lower ratings for desire overall. Gentle stroking touch was most linked with arousal when participants had had their partner in mind. Further, more positive childhood touch and secure and anxious attachment scores were associated with more positive emotions and intentions, while the opposite was found for avoidant attachment scores. Lastly, positive childhood touch and higher anxious attachment scores were related to greater discrimination between distinct emotion and intention categories, while higher attachment avoidance was associated with reduced discriminability. Thus, contextual and person variables matter in shaping the meaning of social touch.
触摸是社交互动中传达意义的关键渠道。触摸的情感特质及其对幸福感的影响受到关系背景（触摸给予者与接受者之间的关系）和个体变量（如成人依恋风格）的塑造。然而，尚未针对触摸所赋予的[此处原文缺失内容]来探究此类影响。我们使用了来自“触摸测试”的数据，这是世界上最大规模的触摸调查，其中包括关于人们对想象中的轻柔抚摸和拥抱所感受到的程度以及与之相关的特定情感和意图的问题。在n = 23428的样本中，我们研究了关系背景（想象中的触摸来源）和个体变量（性别、回忆起的童年积极触摸以及成人依恋风格）如何与与想象中的触摸相关的积极情绪（如爱、欲望、支持）和消极情绪（如恐惧、愤怒、警告）及意图相关联。当参与者想到自己的伴侣（而非其他人）时，对爱、欲望和支持的认同度更高，并且总体而言女性（与男性相比）对欲望的评分更低。当参与者想到自己的伴侣时，轻柔抚摸与唤起情绪的关联最为紧密。此外，更多积极的童年触摸以及安全和焦虑依恋得分与更多积极情绪和意图相关，而回避型依恋得分则相反。最后，积极的童年触摸和更高的焦虑依恋得分与对不同情绪和意图类别的更强区分能力相关，而更高的依恋回避则与区分能力降低有关。因此，背景和个体变量在塑造社交触摸的意义方面很重要。
