Oxford University creates map of “touch” acceptability
Touch is incredibly personal and it can be hard to know what others’ boundaries are. A recent study from the University of Oxford reveals some interesting truths about acceptability.
The study used more than 1,300 men and women from five countries: the UK, Finland, France, Italy and Russia. It asked them to colour in areas on a diagram of the human body where they would feel comfortable being touched by different people, like a romantic partner, friend or stranger. Their answers were used to create a colour coded ‘map’ of the body, which ranked acceptability by relationship and area.
Some of the results were unsurprising. Both sexes felt largely uncomfortable being touched by strangers, except on very neutral parts of their bodies like arms and shoulders. Women were more uncomfortable to be touched by male strangers or acquaintances than men were. And everyone agreed that few people outside of partners or close family members should touch them anywhere near their private parts.
Researchers found that touch is an important means of maintaining social relationships, even at a time when we are increasingly communicating through the internet or mobile devices. The acceptability of touch is closely associated with the pleasure caused by touching. The greater the pleasure caused by touching an area, the more selective we are in allowing others to touch it.
The study also showed that while touch is universal, the context of the relationship between two parties is the key factor in the interpretation of it. For example, we may perceive a certain kind of touch from a close friend as comforting, while the same action from a stranger would be unwelcome. These relationships are not always dictated by time either. A friend we have not seen for a long time would be able to touch us differently to a workmate who we see every day.
And it revealed some interesting national traits around touch. The British were the least comfortable with physical touch while the Finns were the most. Italians, usually considered to be a very emotive, physical people in general, were only slightly more comfortable with it than the Brits.
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