Open Access
Open access
Scientific Reports, volume 13, issue 1, publication number 5497

Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world

Agnieszka Sorokowska 1
, 
Marta Kowal 2
, 
Supreet Saluja 3
, 
Toivo Aavik 4
, 
Charlotte Alm 5
, 
Afifa Anjum 6
, 
Kelly Asao 7
, 
Carlota Batres 8
, 
Aicha Bensafia 9
, 
Boris Bizumic 10
, 
Mahmoud Boussena 11
, 
David M. Buss 12
, 
Marina Butovskaya 13
, 
Seda Can 14
, 
Antonin Carrier 15
, 
Hakan Cetinkaya 16
, 
Daniel Conroy-Beam 17
, 
Rosa María Cueto 18
, 
Marcin Czub 1
, 
Seda Dural 14
, 
Agustín Espinosa 18
, 
Carla Sofia Esteves 19
, 
Tomasz Frackowiak 1
, 
Jorge Contreras-Garduño 20
, 
Farida Guemaz 11
, 
Ivana Hromatko 21
, 
Iskra Herak 15
, 
Feng Jiang 22
, 
Konstantinos Kafetsios 23
, 
Tina Kavcic 24
, 
Nicolas Kervyn 15
, 
Nils C. Köbis 25
, 
Aleksandra Kostić 26
, 
András Láng 27
, 
Torun Lindholm 5
, 
Zoi Manesi 28
, 
Norbert Meskó 27
, 
Girishwar Misra 29
, 
Conal Monaghan 10
, 
Jean Carlos Natividade 30
, 
George Nizharadze 31
, 
Elisabeth Oberzaucher 32
, 
Anna Oleszkiewicz 1, 33
, 
Ariela Francesca Pagani 34
, 
Vilmante Pakalniskiene 35
, 
Miriam Parise 36
, 
Marija Pejičić 26
, 
Annette Pisanski 37
, 
Kasia Pisanski 1, 38
, 
Camelia Popa 39
, 
Pavol Prokop 40
, 
Ruta Sargautyte 35
, 
Shivantika Sharad 29
, 
Franco Simonetti 41
, 
Piotr Sorokowski 1
, 
Michal Mikolaj Stefanczyk 1
, 
Anna Szagdaj 42
, 
Meri Tadinac 21
, 
Karina Ugalde González 43
, 
Olga Uhryn 44
, 
Christin-Melanie Vauclair 45
, 
Gyesook Yoo 46
, 
Maja Zupančič 24
, 
Ilona Croy 47, 48
Show full list: 64 authors
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Westminster College, Salt Lake City, USA | 
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Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, USA | 
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University of Algiers, Algiers, Algeria | 
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University Setif2, Setif, Algeria | 
12
 
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Russian Academy of Sciences, MOSCOW, Russia | 
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CNRS, University of Lyon 2, Lyon, France | 
39
 
Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania | 
40
 
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Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, San José, USA | 
44
 
Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, Lviv, Costa Rica | 
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German Center for Mental Health, Halle-Jena-Magdeburg, Germany | 
Publication type: Journal Article
Publication date: 2023-04-04
scimago Q1
SJR: 0.900
CiteScore: 7.5
Impact factor: 3.8
ISSN: 20452322
Multidisciplinary
Abstract

Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.

Found 65
By date By citations
Elsevier
Social touch experience in different contexts: A review
Saarinen A., Harjunen V., Jasinskaja-Lahti I., Jääskeläinen I.P., Ravaja N.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2021-12-01,  citations by CoLab: 63 ,  Abstract  
Social touch is increasingly utilized in a variety of psychological interventions, ranging from parent-child interventions to psychotherapeutic treatments. Less attention has been paid, however, to findings that exposure to social touch may not necessarily evoke positive or pleasant responses. Social touch can convey different emotions from love and gratitude to harassment and envy, and persons' preferences to touch and be touched do not necessarily match with each other. This review of altogether 99 original studies focuses on how contextual factors modify target person's behavioral and brain responses to social touch. The review shows that experience of social touch is strongly modified by a variety of toucher-related and situational factors: for example, toucher's facial expressions, physical attractiveness, relationship status, group membership, and touched person's psychological distress. At the neural level, contextual factors modify processing of social touch from early perceptual processing to reflective cognitive evaluation. Based on the review, we present implications for using social touch in behavioral and neuroscientific research designs.
Wiley
Skin‐to‐skin contact to improve premature mothers' anxiety and stress state: A meta‐analysis
Cong S., Wang R., Fan X., Song X., Sha L., Zhu Z., Zhou H., Liu Y., Zhang A.
Maternal and Child Nutrition scimago Q1 wos Q1 Open Access , 
2021-07-13,  citations by CoLab: 25 ,  PDF,  Abstract  
Premature mothers present more anxiety and stress after delivery, which may be caused by mother-infant separation while hospitalised. Skin-to-skin contact (SSC), a mitigating factor for mother-infant separation, can benefit infants and mothers in many ways, but few studies focused on its efficacy on maternal anxiety and stress states. Therefore, this review aims to evaluate the effect of SSC on anxiety and stress. Comprehensive research was conducted in nine databases. Meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of SSC, and subgroup analyses were performed to explain the sources of heterogeneity. Eight randomised controlled trials with 728 participants were included, and SSC significantly reduced the level of anxiety ([standardised mean difference, SMD] -0.72; 95% CI -1.08 to -0.35) and stress state ([SMD] -0.84; 95% CI -1.59 to -0.09). One subgroup analysis revealed that SSC can relieve anxiety if performing SSC no less than 1 h per day ([SMD] -0.94; 95% CI -1.34 to -0.53). Another subgroup analysis suggested that applying SSC repeatedly and lasting less than 1 week ([SMD] -1.49; 95% CI -2.31 to -0.66) or for 1 week to 2 weeks ([SMD] -1.04; 95% CI -1.29 to -0.79) can significantly reduce maternal anxiety level but no significance if lasting over 2 weeks ([SMD] -0.33; 95% CI -0.67 to 0.01). SSC can effectively improve anxiety and stress states among premature mothers after delivery, and not definitive finding presents that only SSC that was performed no less than 60 min could improve postpartum anxiety states, while SSC alone was not as effective when carried out over 2 weeks.
Elsevier
Insights from the German Version of the Social Touch Questionnaire: How Attitude towards Social Touch relates to Symptoms of Social Anxiety
Lapp H.S., Croy I.
Neuroscience scimago Q2 wos Q2 , 
2021-06-01,  citations by CoLab: 16 ,  Abstract  
Social interpersonal touch is an important part of nonverbal communication and mediates human bonding. However, one’s attitude towards touch is highly individual, and touch is not always perceived as pleasant. For instance, socially anxious people show less touch comfort and higher touch avoidance than socially extroverted people. To investigate which aspects of touch attitude relate to symptoms of social anxiety, we adapted the “Social Touch Questionnaire” (STQ) to the German-speaking population and related it to the “Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale” which assesses symptoms related to social anxiety. In a sample of 479 students, validation of the STQ disclosed good reliability and internal consistency. Exploratory factor analysis conducted in half of the sample revealed a three-factor model and suggested shortening the STQ for higher quality. Confirmatory factor analysis in the other half supported these findings. Subscale analyses revealed a correlation between symptoms of social anxiety and dislike of social touch but not between the former and liking of social touch. Overall, touch is an important channel of social communication which individuals with symptoms of social anxiety seem hindered to benefit from. Screening for this issue via the shortened STQ might provide supporting information for therapists. To investigate the transferability of the STQ as a screening tool for daily clinical practice, we suggest further research in clinical samples.
Voicing the Stories of Love Across Cultures: An Introduction
Mayer C., Vanderheiden E.
2021-05-04,  citations by CoLab: 2 ,  Abstract  
This chapter builds the introductory part to the “Handbook on Love in Cultural and Transcultural Contexts”. It provides a brief theoretical overview on the state of the art in love research and different cultural and transcultural perspectives and provides insight into the chapters presented in this book.
International Handbook of Love
2021-05-04,  citations by CoLab: 15 , 
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
When and how does the number of children affect marital satisfaction? An international survey
Kowal M., Groyecka-Bernard A., Kochan-Wójcik M., Sorokowski P.
PLoS ONE scimago Q1 wos Q1 Open Access , 
2021-04-22,  citations by CoLab: 20 ,  PDF,  Abstract  
The present global study attempts to verify the links between marital satisfaction and the number of children as well as its moderators in an international sample. Data for the study was obtained from our published dataset and included 7178 married individuals from 33 countries and territories. We found that the number of children was a significant negative predictor of marital satisfaction; also sex, education, and religiosity were interacting with the number of children and marital satisfaction, while there were no interactions with economic status and individual level of individualistic values. The main contribution of the present research is extending our knowledge on the relationship between marital satisfaction and the number of children in several, non-Western countries and territories.
SAGE
Individual and relational differences in desire for touch in romantic relationships
Jakubiak B.K., Fuentes J.D., Feeney B.C.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2021-03-25,  citations by CoLab: 20 ,  Abstract  
Although touch is common in romantic relationships and is generally beneficial, people differ in the extent to which they desire to give and receive touch. The current research identified individual and relationship characteristics that predict overall desire for touch and unique desire for overtly affectionate versus indirectly affectionate forms of touch. In both a sample of dating, engaged, and married individuals (Study 1) and a dyadic sample of married couples (Study 2), the strongest predictors of overall desire for touch were sex (being female) and high relationship quality (actor and partner). Attachment avoidance also predicted lower desire for touch overall (Study 1), and actor and partner attachment avoidance predicted lower desire for indirectly affectionate touch, in particular (Study 2). Finally, greater psychological distress predicted greater desire for indirectly affectionate touch in both studies. This novel descriptive information about desire for touch provides a foundation for future intervention work.
SAGE
Affective Interpersonal Touch in Close Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
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 Duyar D., Ayebare R., Batres C., et. al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2021-02-22,  citations by CoLab: 64 ,  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.
SAGE
Is Touch in Romantic Relationships Universally Beneficial for Psychological Well-Being? The Role of Attachment Avoidance
Debrot A., Stellar J.E., MacDonald G., Keltner D., Impett E.A.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2020-12-07,  citations by CoLab: 36 ,  Abstract  
Affectionate touch is crucial for well-being. However, attachment avoidance is associated with negative attitudes toward touch. We tested two preregistered hypotheses about how attachment avoidance influences the association between touch in romantic couples and psychological well-being. We examined whether greater attachment avoidance is associated with a reduced link between touch and well-being, and/or whether reduced touch mediates the relationship between attachment avoidance and lower well-being. Across three studies, including two dyadic ones, we measured retrospective self-reports (Studies 1 and 2), laboratory observations (Study 2), and daily experiences (Study 3) of touch. Touch and well-being were positively associated, and attachment avoidance was associated with lower well-being and less frequent touch. Touch was associated with greater well-being regardless of level of attachment avoidance, and less frequent touch mediated the negative association between attachment avoidance and well-being in most analyses. This underscores the importance of touch, even for those valuing distance and autonomy.
SAGE
Approach and avoidance motives for touch are predicted by attachment and predict daily relationship well-being
Jakubiak B.K., Debrot A., Kim J., Impett E.A.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2020-09-24,  citations by CoLab: 10 ,  Abstract  
Research suggests that touch promotes relationship well-being but has failed to consider motives for touch. We assessed general (Study 1) and daily (Study 2) approach and avoidance motives for touch and tested their precursors and consequences. Controlling for relationship quality and the other motive, greater attachment avoidance predicted lower approach and greater avoidance motives for touch in general but did not predict motives in daily life. Greater attachment anxiety simultaneously predicted greater approach and avoidance motives for touch in both studies suggesting anxiously attached people have ambivalent motives for touch. Critically, one’s own and one’s partner’s approach motives for touch predicted greater daily relationship well-being, whereas own and partner avoidance motives predicted poorer daily relationship well-being. We observed indirect effects linking attachment insecurity to relationship well-being through daily motives for touch. These results underscore the importance of attending to touch motives in future work, including future intervention work.
Taylor & Francis
Universality of the Triangular Theory of Love: Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Triangular Love Scale in 25 Countries
Sorokowski P., Sorokowska A., Karwowski M., Groyecka A., Aavik T., Akello G., Alm C., Amjad N., Anjum A., Asao K., Atama C.S., Atamtürk Duyar D., Ayebare R., Batres C., Bendixen M., et. al.
Journal of Sex Research scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2020-08-12,  citations by CoLab: 38 ,  Abstract  
The Triangular Theory of Love (measured with Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale – STLS) is a prominent theoretical concept in empirical research on love. To expand the culturally homogeneous body of...
Taylor & Francis
The effect of gender, religiosity and personality on the interpersonal distance preference: a virtual reality study
Hatami J., Sharifian M., Noorollahi Z., Fathipour A.
Communication Research Reports scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2020-08-07,  citations by CoLab: 4 , 
Springer Nature
Disorganized Attachment pattern affects the perception of Affective Touch
Spitoni G.F., Zingaretti P., Giovanardi G., Antonucci G., Galati G., Lingiardi V., Cruciani G., Titone G., Boccia M.
Scientific Reports scimago Q1 wos Q1 Open Access , 
2020-06-15,  citations by CoLab: 38 ,  PDF,  Abstract  
Touch, such as affective caress, can be interpreted as being pleasant. The emotional valence that is assigned to touch is related to certain bottom-up factors, such as the optimal activation of C-tactile (CT) afferents. Tactile processing with a hedonic or emotional component has been defined as affective touch—a component that CT fibers are likely to convey. Tactile deficiencies are frequent in the psychiatric population but also in healthy people with disorganized attachment; accordingly, it is likely that affective difficulties in adults with disorganized attachment are reflected in altered perception of affective touch. To test this hypothesis, we combined methods from clinical psychology, psychophysics, and neuroimaging. We found that people with a history of traumatic parental bonds and a disorganized attachment pattern perceive a “caress-like” stimulus as being unpleasant, whereas participants with organized attachment consider the same tactile stimulation to be pleasant. Further, unlike in organized adults, the responses of disorganized adults to CT and non-CT stimulation activated limbic and paralimbic structures in a fight-or-flight manner, suggesting that early experiences with parental deficiencies shape the physiological responses of peripheral CT fibers and central nervous networks.
Frontiers Media S.A.
Reasons for Facebook Usage: Data From 46 Countries
Kowal M., Sorokowski P., Sorokowska A., Dobrowolska M., Pisanski K., Oleszkiewicz A., Aavik T., Akello G., Alm C., Amjad N., Anjum A., Asao K., Atama C.S., Atamtürk Duyar D., Ayebare R., et. al.
Frontiers in Psychology scimago Q2 wos Q2 Open Access , 
2020-04-30,  citations by CoLab: 24 ,  PDF, 
Springer Nature
The Influence of Emotional Closeness on Interindividual Touching
Strauss T., Bytomski A., Croy I.
Journal of Nonverbal Behavior scimago Q2 wos Q4 , 
2020-04-16,  citations by CoLab: 13 ,  Abstract  
Interpersonal tactile stroking stimulation activates different peripheral nerve fibers, especially C-tactile afferents, which encode pleasant and erotic sensations. Hence, humans typically stroke close interaction partners with velocities that are suited to stimulate C-tactile afferents in the touch receivers’ skin. We aim to replicate this finding and we furthermore hypothesized that humans adjust their stroking velocity depending on the relationship with the interaction partner. We tested 60 participants in total (29 men, 31 women, mean age 23.3 years ± 3.6 years SD). They were asked to stroke their partner, their friend, a female stranger, a male stranger, an artificial arm and a table. Stroking was recorded by a video camera and each participant rated the emotional closeness to and attractiveness of each human interaction partner. In addition, we determined the velocity that each participant preferred to be stroked with in a forced choice paradigm. The participants stroked other humans slower and more in the optimal range for C-tactile fiber activation than non-humans. The stroking velocity was related to ratings of sympathy. The participants did not adjust their stroking velocities towards the stimulation they preferred for themselves. In conclusion, our study reaffirms that interindividual stroking touch is targeted to activate C-tactile fibers in the touch receiver. Furthermore, humans adjust their stroking velocity according to sympathy and interindividual attraction.
Found 5
By date By citations
Elsevier
Measuring differences in social touch: Development and validation of the short Touch Experiences and Attitudes Questionnaire (TEAQ-s)
Friedrich Y., Faresse S., Henning C., Trotter P.D., Ackerley R., Croy I.
Personality and Individual Differences scimago Q1 wos Q1 , 
2025-02-01,  citations by CoLab: 1 , 
Taylor & Francis
Prediction of the End of a Romantic Relationship in Peruvian Youth and Adults: A Machine Learning Approach
Ventura-León J., Lino-Cruz C., Sánchez-Villena A.R., Tocto-Muñoz S., Martinez-Munive R., Talledo-Sánchez K., Casiano-Valdivieso K.
Journal of General Psychology scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2024-11-26,  citations by CoLab: 0 , 
SAGE
Conservatism Negatively Predicts Creativity: A Study Across 28 Countries
Groyecka-Bernard A., Sorokowski P., Karwowski M., Roberts S.C., Aavik T., Akello G., Alm C., Amjad N., Asao K., Atama C.S., Atamtürk Duyar D., Ayebare R., Batres C., Bensafia A., Bertoni A., et. al.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology scimago Q1 wos Q2 , 
2024-04-02,  citations by CoLab: 0 ,  Abstract  
Previous studies have found a negative relationship between creativity and conservatism. However, as these studies were mostly conducted on samples of homogeneous nationality, the generalizability of the effect across different cultures is unknown. We addressed this gap by conducting a study in 28 countries. Based on the notion that attitudes can be shaped by both environmental and ecological factors, we hypothesized that parasite stress can also affect creativity and thus, its potential effects should be controlled for. The results of multilevel analyses showed that, as expected, conservatism was a significant predictor of lower creativity, adjusting for economic status, age, sex, education level, subjective susceptibility to disease, and country-level parasite stress. In addition, most of the variability in creativity was due to individual rather than country-level variance. Our study provides evidence for a weak but significant negative link between conservatism and creativity at the individual level (β = −0.08, p < .001) and no such effect when country-level conservatism was considered. We present our hypotheses considering previous findings on the behavioral immune system in humans.
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Reliability and validity of a simplified touch experiences and attitudes questionnaire for Chinese college students
Yang L., Li X., Xie Z., Shen L.
PLoS ONE scimago Q1 wos Q1 Open Access , 
2024-01-02,  citations by CoLab: 2 ,  PDF,  Abstract  
Touch cultures have both differences and commonalities in different regions. The Touch Experiences and Attitudes Questionnaire (TEAQ) is a widely applicable self-report tool. The purpose of our research was to examine the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of TEAQ for Chinese college students. We translated the 57 items of the original TEAQ into Chinese and assessed its cultural and linguistic adaptation in Chinese context. Two samples were recruited for the assessment of validity and reliability. The Social Support Rating Scale, Index of Well-being Scale and Security Questionnaire were chosen as criterion-related validity indicators. Item analysis, principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the simplified Chinese version of TEAQ contained 18 items in three factors: Attitude to Intimate Touch, Childhood Touch and Current Positive Touch, with a cumulative variance contribution rate of 57.12%. The 3-factor model had good validity and reliability. The TEAQ was positively correlated with social support, sense of security and well-being. There were demographic differences in sex and left-behind experience. We anticipate the simplified TEAQ will be a valuable tool for the research of touch among Chinese college students.
Cross-Cultural Methods in Sexual Psychology: Love Research
Kowal M.
2023-04-07,  citations by CoLab: 1 , 

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