Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Agnieszka Sorokowska; Supreet Saluja; Piotr Sorokowski; Tomasz Frąckowiak; Maciej Karwowski; Toivo Aavik; Grace Akello; Charlotte Alm; Naumana Amjad; Afifa Anjum; Kelly Asao; Chiemezie S. Atama; Duyar D Atamtürk; Richard Ayebare; Carlota Batres; Mons Bendixen; Aicha Bensafia; Boris Bizumic; Mahmoud Boussena; David M. Buss; Marina Butovskaya; Seda Can; Katarzyna Cantarero; Antonin Carrier; Hakan Cetinkaya; Dominika Chabin; Daniel Conroy-Beam; Jorge Contreras-Graduño; Marco Antonio Correa Varella; Rosa María Cueto; Marcin Czub; Daria Dronova; Seda Dural; Izzet Duyar; Berna Ertugrul; Agustín Espinosa; Carla Sofia Esteves; Farida Guemaz; Mária Haľamová; Iskra Herak; Ivana Hromatko; Chin Ming Hui; Jas Laile Jaafar; Feng Jiang; Konstantinos Kafetsios; Tina Kavcic; Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair; Nicolas O. Kervyn; Imran Ahmed Khilji; Nils C. Köbis; Aleksandra Kostic; András Láng; Georgina R. Lennard; Ernesto León; Torun Lindholm; Giulia Lopez; Zoi Manesi; Rocio Martinez; Sarah L. McKerchar; Norbert Meskó; Girishwar Misra; Conal Monaghan; Emanuel C. Mora; Alba Moya-Garofano; Bojan Musil; Jean Carlos Natividade; George Nizharadze; Elisabeth Oberzaucher; Anna Oleszkiewicz; Ike Ernest Onyishi; Baris Özener; Ariela Francesca Pagani; Vilmante Pakalniskiene; Miriam Parise; Farid Pazhoohi; Marija Pejičić; A Pisanski; K Pisanski; Nejc Plohl; Camelia Popa; Pavol Prokop; Muhammad Rizwan; Mario Sainz; Svjetlana Salkičević; Ruta Sargautyte; Ivan Sarmany-Schuller; Susanne Schmehl; Anam Shahid

doi:10.1177/0146167220988373

Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Agnieszka Sorokowska^*, Supreet Saluja, Piotr Sorokowski, Tomasz Frąckowiak, Maciej Karwowski, Toivo Aavik, Grace Akello, Charlotte Alm, Naumana Amjad, Afifa Anjum, Kelly Asao, Chiemezie S. Atama, Duyar D Atamtürk, Richard Ayebare, Carlota Batres, Mons Bendixen, Aicha Bensafia, Boris Bizumic, Mahmoud Boussena, David M. BussMarina Butovskaya, Seda Can, Katarzyna Cantarero, Antonin Carrier, Hakan Cetinkaya, Dominika Chabin, Daniel Conroy-Beam, Jorge Contreras-Graduño, Marco Antonio Correa Varella, Rosa María Cueto, Marcin Czub, Daria Dronova, Seda Dural, Izzet Duyar, Berna Ertugrul, Agustín Espinosa, Carla Sofia Esteves, Farida Guemaz, Mária Haľamová, Iskra Herak, Ivana Hromatko, Chin Ming Hui, Jas Laile Jaafar, Feng Jiang, Konstantinos Kafetsios, Tina Kavcic, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Nicolas O. Kervyn, Imran Ahmed Khilji, Nils C. Köbis, Aleksandra Kostic, András Láng, Georgina R. Lennard, Ernesto León, Torun Lindholm, Giulia Lopez, Zoi Manesi, Rocio Martinez, Sarah L. McKerchar, Norbert Meskó, Girishwar Misra, Conal Monaghan, Emanuel C. Mora, Alba Moya-Garofano, Bojan Musil, Jean Carlos Natividade, George Nizharadze, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Anna Oleszkiewicz, Ike Ernest Onyishi, Baris Özener, Ariela Francesca Pagani, Vilmante Pakalniskiene, Miriam Parise, Farid Pazhoohi, Marija Pejičić, A Pisanski, K Pisanski, Nejc Plohl, Camelia Popa, Pavol Prokop, Muhammad Rizwan, Mario Sainz, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ruta Sargautyte, Ivan Sarmany-Schuller, Susanne Schmehl, Anam Shahid

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1705-1721
Number of pages	0
Journal	Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume	47
Issue number	12
Early online date	22 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220988373
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Access to Document

10.1177/0146167220988373

Cite this

Sorokowska, A., Saluja, S., Sorokowski, P., Frąckowiak, T., Karwowski, M., Aavik, T., Akello, G., Alm, C., Amjad, N., Anjum, A., Asao, K., Atama, C. S., Atamtürk, D. D., Ayebare, R., Batres, C., Bendixen, M., Bensafia, A., Bizumic, B., Boussena, M., ... Shahid, A. (2021). Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(12), 1705-1721. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220988373

@article{907c630652cd4503b8ef637421f1941f,

title = "Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective",

abstract = " Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch. ",

author = "Agnieszka Sorokowska and Supreet Saluja and Piotr Sorokowski and Tomasz Fr{\c a}ckowiak and Maciej Karwowski and Toivo Aavik and Grace Akello and Charlotte Alm and Naumana Amjad and Afifa Anjum and Kelly Asao and Atama, {Chiemezie S.} and Atamt{\"u}rk, {Duyar D} and Richard Ayebare and Carlota Batres and Mons Bendixen and Aicha Bensafia and Boris Bizumic and Mahmoud Boussena and Buss, {David M.} and Marina Butovskaya and Seda Can and Katarzyna Cantarero and Antonin Carrier and Hakan Cetinkaya and Dominika Chabin and Daniel Conroy-Beam and Jorge Contreras-Gradu{\~n}o and Varella, {Marco Antonio Correa} and Cueto, {Rosa Mar{\'i}a} and Marcin Czub and Daria Dronova and Seda Dural and Izzet Duyar and Berna Ertugrul and Agust{\'i}n Espinosa and Esteves, {Carla Sofia} and Farida Guemaz and M{\'a}ria Ha{\v I}amov{\'a} and Iskra Herak and Ivana Hromatko and Hui, {Chin Ming} and Jaafar, {Jas Laile} and Feng Jiang and Konstantinos Kafetsios and Tina Kavcic and Kennair, {Leif Edward Ottesen} and Kervyn, {Nicolas O.} and Khilji, {Imran Ahmed} and K{\"o}bis, {Nils C.} and Aleksandra Kostic and Andr{\'a}s L{\'a}ng and Lennard, {Georgina R.} and Ernesto Le{\'o}n and Torun Lindholm and Giulia Lopez and Zoi Manesi and Rocio Martinez and McKerchar, {Sarah L.} and Norbert Mesk{\'o} and Girishwar Misra and Conal Monaghan and Mora, {Emanuel C.} and Alba Moya-Garofano and Bojan Musil and Natividade, {Jean Carlos} and George Nizharadze and Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Anna Oleszkiewicz and Onyishi, {Ike Ernest} and Baris {\"O}zener and Pagani, {Ariela Francesca} and Vilmante Pakalniskiene and Miriam Parise and Farid Pazhoohi and Marija Peji{\v c}i{\'c} and A Pisanski and K Pisanski and Nejc Plohl and Camelia Popa and Pavol Prokop and Muhammad Rizwan and Mario Sainz and Svjetlana Salki{\v c}evi{\'c} and Ruta Sargautyte and Ivan Sarmany-Schuller and Susanne Schmehl and Anam Shahid",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1177/0146167220988373",

language = "English",

volume = "47",

pages = "1705--1721",

journal = "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin",

issn = "0146-1672",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "12",

}

Sorokowska, A, Saluja, S, Sorokowski, P, Frąckowiak, T, Karwowski, M, Aavik, T, Akello, G, Alm, C, Amjad, N, Anjum, A, Asao, K, Atama, CS, Atamtürk, DD, Ayebare, R, Batres, C, Bendixen, M, Bensafia, A, Bizumic, B, Boussena, M, Buss, DM, Butovskaya, M, Can, S, Cantarero, K, Carrier, A, Cetinkaya, H, Chabin, D, Conroy-Beam, D, Contreras-Graduño, J, Varella, MAC, Cueto, RM, Czub, M, Dronova, D, Dural, S, Duyar, I, Ertugrul, B, Espinosa, A, Esteves, CS, Guemaz, F, Haľamová, M, Herak, I, Hromatko, I, Hui, CM, Jaafar, JL, Jiang, F, Kafetsios, K, Kavcic, T, Kennair, LEO, Kervyn, NO, Khilji, IA, Köbis, NC, Kostic, A, Láng, A, Lennard, GR, León, E, Lindholm, T, Lopez, G, Manesi, Z, Martinez, R, McKerchar, SL, Meskó, N, Misra, G, Monaghan, C, Mora, EC, Moya-Garofano, A, Musil, B, Natividade, JC, Nizharadze, G, Oberzaucher, E, Oleszkiewicz, A, Onyishi, IE, Özener, B, Pagani, AF, Pakalniskiene, V, Parise, M, Pazhoohi, F, Pejičić, M, Pisanski, A, Pisanski, K, Plohl, N, Popa, C, Prokop, P, Rizwan, M, Sainz, M, Salkičević, S, Sargautyte, R, Sarmany-Schuller, I, Schmehl, S & Shahid, A 2021, 'Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 1705-1721. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220988373

TY - JOUR

T1 - Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

AU - Sorokowska, Agnieszka

AU - Saluja, Supreet

AU - Sorokowski, Piotr

AU - Frąckowiak, Tomasz

AU - Karwowski, Maciej

AU - Aavik, Toivo

AU - Akello, Grace

AU - Alm, Charlotte

AU - Amjad, Naumana

AU - Anjum, Afifa

AU - Asao, Kelly

AU - Atama, Chiemezie S.

AU - Atamtürk, Duyar D

AU - Ayebare, Richard

AU - Batres, Carlota

AU - Bendixen, Mons

AU - Bensafia, Aicha

AU - Bizumic, Boris

AU - Boussena, Mahmoud

AU - Buss, David M.

AU - Butovskaya, Marina

AU - Can, Seda

AU - Cantarero, Katarzyna

AU - Carrier, Antonin

AU - Cetinkaya, Hakan

AU - Chabin, Dominika

AU - Conroy-Beam, Daniel

AU - Contreras-Graduño, Jorge

AU - Varella, Marco Antonio Correa

AU - Cueto, Rosa María

AU - Czub, Marcin

AU - Dronova, Daria

AU - Dural, Seda

AU - Duyar, Izzet

AU - Ertugrul, Berna

AU - Espinosa, Agustín

AU - Esteves, Carla Sofia

AU - Guemaz, Farida

AU - Haľamová, Mária

AU - Herak, Iskra

AU - Hromatko, Ivana

AU - Hui, Chin Ming

AU - Jaafar, Jas Laile

AU - Jiang, Feng

AU - Kafetsios, Konstantinos

AU - Kavcic, Tina

AU - Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen

AU - Kervyn, Nicolas O.

AU - Khilji, Imran Ahmed

AU - Köbis, Nils C.

AU - Kostic, Aleksandra

AU - Láng, András

AU - Lennard, Georgina R.

AU - León, Ernesto

AU - Lindholm, Torun

AU - Lopez, Giulia

AU - Manesi, Zoi

AU - Martinez, Rocio

AU - McKerchar, Sarah L.

AU - Meskó, Norbert

AU - Misra, Girishwar

AU - Monaghan, Conal

AU - Mora, Emanuel C.

AU - Moya-Garofano, Alba

AU - Musil, Bojan

AU - Natividade, Jean Carlos

AU - Nizharadze, George

AU - Oberzaucher, Elisabeth

AU - Oleszkiewicz, Anna

AU - Onyishi, Ike Ernest

AU - Özener, Baris

AU - Pagani, Ariela Francesca

AU - Pakalniskiene, Vilmante

AU - Parise, Miriam

AU - Pazhoohi, Farid

AU - Pejičić, Marija

AU - Pisanski, A

AU - Pisanski, K

AU - Plohl, Nejc

AU - Popa, Camelia

AU - Prokop, Pavol

AU - Rizwan, Muhammad

AU - Sainz, Mario

AU - Salkičević, Svjetlana

AU - Sargautyte, Ruta

AU - Sarmany-Schuller, Ivan

AU - Schmehl, Susanne

AU - Shahid, Anam

PY - 2021/12

Y1 - 2021/12

N2 - Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch.

AB - Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during the week preceding the study. We then examined a range of hypothesized individual-level factors (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity, and preferred interpersonal distance) and cultural-level factors (regional temperature, parasite stress, regional conservatism, collectivism, and religiosity) in predicting these affective-touching behaviors. Our results indicate that affective touch was most prevalent in relationships with partners and children, and its diversity was relatively higher in warmer, less conservative, and religious countries, and among younger, female, and liberal people. This research allows for a broad and integrated view of the bases of cross-cultural variability in affective touch.

U2 - 10.1177/0146167220988373

DO - 10.1177/0146167220988373

M3 - Article

SN - 0146-1672

VL - 47

SP - 1705

EP - 1721

JO - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

JF - Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

IS - 12

ER -

Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this