COM3404- Short Answer #5 (Chapter 8)
HappyRainFrog1
NVC_Chapter8_v9updated.pptxNonverbal Communication
Chapter 8
The Effects of Touch on Human Communication
Touch: Others and Self
In Western society, a topic of great ambivalence
Disapproved of in many settings and relationships
Sexual connotations – hetero and homosexual
Increasingly forbidden in day care and schools, due to fear of lawsuits
Some states have laws against teachers touching children
Codes of ethics for psychotherapists’ touching
Touch and Development
Touch is the first sense to develop
Infants rely on touch to learn about world
Adults have 18 sq feet and 9 lbs of skin: the largest organ of the body
Always “on”: can’t tune out as in eyes or ears
Rat pups die without mother’s licking them
Stimulates all physiological systems
Later, self-licking does same
Rats that are handled in infancy develop better immune systems
Rats handled during first days of life weigh more, are smarter (even later in life), and survive longer
Probably explains self-fulfilling prophecy studies with rats
Touch and Development (cont’d)
Touch and Development (cont’d)
Harlow’s cloth and wire monkey studies
Baby monkeys preferred no-milk cloth ‘mom’ to milk-supplying wire ‘mom’
Baby monkeys who are near and can see their mother but not touch her have immune system breakdown
Monkeys: More early grooming, better immune response (natural killer cells)
Stimulation of skin reduces stress hormones (cortisol and norepinephrine): Could be path to immune functioning
Touch and Development (cont’d)
Touch is critical to normal physiological growth in human babies
Growth retardation
Slower to walk and talk
Touch and Development (cont’d)
Type of touch is important
“C tactile” touch is transmitted by CT nerves, which respond to gentle movements on the skin
Mothers intuitively stroke their infants using C tactile touch
Massage
Massage is for more than just pleasure and relaxation
Many controlled studies on physiological effects of massage
Effects on depression, anxiety, stress hormones, better sleep
Effective for premature infants’ weight gain, alertness level, interpersonal responsiveness; massaged premature babies discharged from hospital sooner
Massage (cont’d)
Alleviates pain
Cures the problem directly
Gate-control theory of transmission of pain signals to brain
Reduces anxiety, which aggravates pain
Produces endorphins (endogenous opiates)
Sexual touch
Orgasm
Women are less likely to climax during penile-vaginal intercourse than are men
Women who are in established relationships, and are more satisfied in their relationship, tend to have more frequent orgasms
The longer individuals are in a relationship, the less intimate touching there tends to be
Touch Preferences in Humans
Self-report scales have been shown to have validity: self-reported non-touchers respond negatively to actual touch and stand farther from others (e.g., the Touch Experience and Attitudes Questionnaire and the Comfort with Interpersonal Touch Scale)
Self-reported non-touchers also:
report more anxiety and tension, less satisfaction with their bodies, more suspicion of others; are more socially withdrawn and more rigid in their beliefs; are Protestant more than Jewish; in personality are less agreeable, less open to experience, more neurotic; more likely to be male
Observed Touch
Observations typically done in public: Not fully representative of people’s touching behavior
Situations can encourage or inhibit touch
Encourage: greeting and departing, team sports
Inhibit: teacher-student, therapist–client
The Problem of Knowing What Touch Means
Observation often precludes a fine understanding of purpose/meaning
Touch does not always have a specific meaning
Touch’s meaning can be to intensify messages being conveyed in other modalities
Touch can have an impact greater than other cues—perhaps because it is rare, it is very salient
But Touch is Not Always Ambiguous
Many touches do have distinct meanings and the functions can be understood
Examples: shake hands, hold hands, arm in arm, pat, poke, tap, kiss, hug
But, even so, the manner of touch can be very qualifying of the message
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The Meanings and Impact of Touch
Touch as Positive Affect
Touch as Negative Affect
Touch as Discrete Emotions
Touch as Play
Touch as Influence
Touch as Interaction Management
Touch as Physiological Stimulus
Touch as Interpersonal Responsiveness
Touch as Task Related
Touch as Healing
Touch as Symbolism
Touch and Positive Affect
Warmth, reassurance
Association with sexuality
Bonding; ‘tie-signs’ signify couplehood
Fleeting touch can induce positive affect (e.g., evaluations of the environment)
Library clerks
Greeters in stores
Touch and Positive Affect (cont’d)
Basketball: Kraus et al. (2010)
Studied touch and performance in all 30 NBA teams (one game per team)
Measured all touches between teammates (not part of play) – examples: fist bump, high 5, chest bump, hug, head slap
Measured team performance and also behaviors called “cooperative” (e.g., passing vs. hogging ball)
More touching associated with more cooperative play and better performance
Touch and Negative Affect
Aggressive touch much more prevalent in children than adults
Touch ‘taboo’ may stem both from aggressive potential of touch and the association with sexuality
Women: dangers of unwanted touch from men
Children: dangers of unwanted touch from adults
Homophobic attitudes: touch others less in public
Touch and Discrete Emotions
Hertenstein et al. (2006)
Students instructed to try to convey different emotions by touch only
Viewers could identify anger, fear, happiness, disgust, and several others
Touch recipients could also identify anger, fear, disgust, sympathy and others (arm through curtain so had only touch to go on)
Touch and Play
Tickling
Mock fighting; rough and tumble
Touch and Influence
Fleeting touch induces compliance (except between men in Poland)
Tips, drinks and products purchased, more time shopping, doing favors such as filling out survey or holding dog
Fleeting touch increases spontaneous helping
Touch can also be used to convey impression of dominance/control or control directly
Touch and Interaction Management
Helps regulate interaction
Getting someone’s attention
Rituals
Control comings and goings
Touch as Physiological Stimulus
Sex
Physiological impact (e.g., development, massage)
Arousal can be positive or negative
Touch and Interpersonal Responsiveness
Touch has high ‘alerting’ value
Depending on context, sends a clear message about intensity of interpersonal relatedness
But can be positive or negative in intent or interpretation
Touch as Task Related
Also called functional/professional touch
E.g., airport screenings, dental hygienists, physical examinations
Individuals likely to engage in compensation to offset touch intimacy
E.g., asking doctors to wear plastic gloves and a lab coat
Touch and Healing
“Laying on of hands” by kings, religious leaders, healers
Miraculous healings not rigorously studied but probably happen
Causation is likely psychophysiological (expectations, etc.)
Pet therapy
Touch and Symbolism
Touch can be fraught with significance
Israeli-Palestinian handshake and assassination of Israeli prime minister
Vicarious transfer of powers and fame through touch (giving or receiving)
Celebrities, religious figures, politicians
Can also have reverse effects, where the feeling of contamination is associated with being touched by an undesirable person
Gender and Touch Attitudes
Women report more comfort with touch than men report
Especially when it is same-gender
Why are men less comfortable?
Not in the habit, therefore unexpected
Touch implies conflict for men
Touch implies homosexuality, upsetting to some men
Touch is violating of preferred personal space
Observed Gender Differences in Touch
Do men touch women more than vice versa?
Yes, when young, in uncommitted relationships, and with the hand
No, when older, in longer-term relationships; in fact women touch men more in these relationships
Observed Gender Differences in Touch (cont’d)
Women touch others more than men do
Female-female > male-male
In touch-compliance studies, no evidence that women respond especially favorably to being touched, compared to men
Touch as Unconscious Influence
“Facilitated Communication”
Method for helping impaired people to express their thoughts
The “facilitator” stabilizes the communicator’s hand while communicator types on a hand-held keyboard
Widely adopted with autistic, physically impaired populations
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Self-Touching
Not very well studied
Kinds of self-touching
Shielding actions, cleaning/grooming actions, self-soothing/intimacies
Adaptors or Self-manipulators
Self-soothing behaviors in response to certain situations; generally associated with negative feelings or mental concentration
Self-Touching (cont’d)
Often serves own needs, often not ‘communicative’
But can have message content
Preening, come-on
“Quasi-courtship”
Self-Touching (cont’d)
Self-touching increases as a person’s psychological discomfort, anxiety, or depression increase
Does self-touching express or relieve anxiety?
True in baboons too (‘stress’ defined as being near more dominant vs. more subordinate other)
Self-Touching (cont’d)
Self-touching increases under cognitive load
Adolescents’ self-touching and culture: Miami > Paris (opposite for touching others)
