Affective touch refers to gentle, slow, and pleasant touch, typically involving stroking of the skin at velocities between 1-10 cm/s.
This type of touch activates specific unmyelinated nerve fibers called C-tactile afferents, which are thought to play a role in social bonding and emotional regulation.
Affective touch is distinct from discriminative touch, which primarily conveys sensory information about the physical properties of stimuli.
Young mother lovingly cradles her newborn baby in her arms
Key Points
Rationale
Previous research has shown that affective touch (AT) plays a role in social bonding andemotion regulationfrom infancy through adulthood (Croy et al., 2022; Crucianelli & Filippetti, 2020).
AT has been found to alleviate pain, stress, and emotional distress (Saarinen et al., 2021; Di Lernia et al., 2020).
However, most studies have focused on AT’s role in early development, with less known about its emotion regulation effects in adults (Schienle et al., 2022; Schirmer & Gunter, 2017).
Additionally, studies often used brush stroking rather than skin-to-skin contact, which may not evoke the same responses as interpersonal touch (Kress et al., 2011; Lo et al., 2021).
It also explored individual differences in AT perception related to empathy and sensory processing sensitivity traits.
Combining explicit and implicit measures, this research sought to provide a more comprehensive account of AT’s role in emotion regulation in adults under more ecologically valid conditions.
Method
The study used awithin-subjects designwith female adult participants.
Individual differences in empathy and sensory processing sensitivity were assessed via questionnaires.
Procedure
Participants viewed a series of emotionally arousing and neutral images in three touch conditions (AT, T, no touch), rating the unpleasantness of each image. SCR was recorded throughout.
Baseline SCR to AT and T alone was measured prior to the main task. Participants rated the pleasantness of each touch type and completed empathy and sensitivity questionnaires.
Sample
68 right-handed female participants aged 19-35 years (M=23.5, SD=3.10) were recruited from the University of Milano-Bicocca student community.
Measures
Statistical measures
Non-parametric tests (Wilcoxon, Friedman) were used to compare ratings and SCR between conditions. Linear regression tested associations of AT pleasantness with empathy and sensitivity.
The significance levelwas set at p<.05.
Results
Insight
This study provides novel evidence that receiving affective touch from another person can help buffer adults’ negative emotional reactions to disturbing stimuli, both in their conscious experience and automatic physiological arousal.
Sensory processing sensitivity seems to make certain people find affective touch less pleasant in general, but does not negate its emotion-regulating effects.
However, testing only females limits generalizability. Future research could include males and examine other individual difference variables.
Interactive effects of AT with other emotion regulation strategies could also be explored.
Strengths
Limitations
Clinical Implications
The finding that affective touch from another person can dampen negative emotional reactivity has implications for clinical practice and everyday social interactions.
AT could potentially be used as an adjunct to other therapies foremotion dysregulation disorders. The results also highlight the power of social touch to provide comfort during emotional challenges.
However, individual differences in touch preferences, such as those related to sensory sensitivity, need to be considered. Awareness of these differences can help optimize the benefits of AT in various contexts.
References
Primary reference
Other references
Croy, I., Fairhurst, M. T., & McGlone, F. (2022). The role of C-tactile nerve fibres in human social development.Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 43, 20–26.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.06.010
Crucianelli, L., & Filippetti, M. L. (2020). Developmental perspectives on interpersonal affective touch.Topoi, 39(3), 575–586.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-018-9565-1
Di Lernia, D., Lacerenza, M., Ainley, V., & Riva, G. (2020). Altered interoceptive perception and the effects of interoceptive analgesia in musculoskeletal, primary, and neuropathic chronic pain conditions.Journal of Personalized Medicine, 10(4), Article 201.https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm10040201
Kress, I. U., Minati, L., Ferraro, S., & Critchley, H. D. (2011). Direct skin-to-skin vs. indirect touch modulates neural responses to stroking vs. tapping.Neuroreport, 22(13), 646–651.https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e328349d166
Lo, C., Chu, S. T., Penney, T. B., & Schirmer, A. (2021). 3D hand-motion tracking and bottom-up classification sheds light on the physical properties of gentle stroking.Neuroscience, 464, 90–104.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.09.037
Saarinen, A., Harjunen, V., Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Jääskeläinen, I. P., & Ravaja, N. (2021). Social touch experience in different contexts: A review.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 131, 360–372.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.027
Schienle, A., Scheucher, J., & Zorjan, S. (2022). Affective touch during the processing of angry facial expressions: An event-related potential study.Biological Psychology, 175,Article 108433.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108433
Schirmer, A., & Gunter, T. C. (2017). The right touch: Stroking of CT-innervated skin promotes vocal emotion processing.Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 17(6), 1129–1140.https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-017-0537-5
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Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
