The “Longing for Interpersonal Touch Picture Questionnaire”: Development of a new measurement for touch perception

Beßler, Ria; Bendas, Johanna; Sailer, Uta

doi:10.1002/ijop.12616

Cited by 28 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…It is possible that a relatively stronger C-tactile contribution may explain the higher pleasantness ratings with age. However another, perhaps more likely explanation is that the age-related increase in touch pleasantness is explained in psychological terms as a consequence of "longing for interpersonal touch" (Bessler et al, 2019) or "touch hunger" (Field, 2010). In other words, a reduction in the amount of interpersonal touch, which probably is more common in the elderly, may lead to increased enjoyment of touch (Sehlstedt et al, 2016).…”

Section: Changes In Touch Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Ageing on Tactile Function in Humans

et al. 2021

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Ageing is accompanied by a steady decline in touch sensitivity and acuity. Conversely, pleasant touch, such as experienced during a caress, is even more pleasant in old age. There are many physiological changes that might explain these perceptual changes, but researchers have not yet identified any specific mechanisms. Here, we review both the perceptual and structural changes to the touch system that are associated with ageing. The structural changes include reduced elasticity of the skin in older people, as well as reduced numbers and altered morphology of skin tactile receptors. Effects of ageing on the peripheral and central nervous systems include demyelination, which affects the timing of neural signals, as well as reduced numbers of peripheral nerve fibres. The ageing brain also undergoes complex changes in blood flow, metabolism, plasticity, neurotransmitter function, and, for touch, the body map in primary somatosensory cortex. Although several studies have attempted to find a direct link between perceptual and structural changes, this has proved surprisingly elusive. We also highlight the need for more evidence regarding age-related changes in peripheral nerve function in the hairy skin, as well as the social and emotional aspects of touch. Highlights • With age, touch sensitivity declines, and gentle touch becomes more pleasant. • Skin elasticity is reduced, and skin tactile receptors are reduced or altered. • Axonal loss and demyelination affect the amount and timing of neural signals. • The brain undergoes changes to somatotopic organisation, and many broad changes. • The link between perceptual and physiological age-related changes remains elusive.

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Section: Changes In Touch Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Ageing on Tactile Function in Humans

et al. 2021

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“…Interestingly, in our sample 87% of the participants reported that they felt touch deprived. Although a direct statistical comparison between our post COVID-19 touch deprivation scores and the pre COVID-19 touch deprivation scores reported by Beßler et al (2020) is not possible, we cautiously suggest that the restrictions following from the COVID-19 pandemic have had a negative impact on the level of touch deprivation reported in the community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…In other words, at this point we do not know whether the touch deprivation score of 7.75 that we report here reflects a (significant) increase in feelings of touch deprivation. However, a pre COVID-19 study of Beßler, Bendas, Sailer, and Croy (2020) showed that over 70% of the healthy individuals in their sample reported that they experienced a longing for touch. So, it appears that even in a society in which there are no restrictions with respect to social interactions, individuals experience a discrepancy between the amount of touch they would want to receive and the amount of touch they actually receive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Out of touch: Touch deprivation and affective touch perception during the COVID-19 pandemic

Meijer¹,

Hasenack²,

Kamps³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Interpersonal touch and affective touch play a crucial role in social interactions and have a positive influence on mental health. The social distancing regulations related to the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced the ability to engage in interpersonal touch. This could cause touch deprivation, and it might alter the way in which affective touch is perceived. To investigate this, we conducted an online survey with 2348 participants, which contained questions regarding the COVID-19 regulations, touch deprivation and the perceived pleasantness of affective and non-affective touch. Results showed that participants reported feelings of touch deprivation. This significantly increased with the duration and severity of the COVID-19 regulations. Participants who experienced more touch deprivation rated videos of affective and non-affective touch as more pleasant. Current results provide insight in the impact of sudden and prolonged COVID-19 regulations and show that increasing the duration and severity of these regulations is associated with a higher desire for touch, which leads to increased perceived pleasantness of touch.

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“…Variability in social touch practices can relate to differing environmental aspects (e.g., climate), cultural aspects (e.g., prevalence of religion), and social norms (Sorokowska et al, 2021). Moreover, individuals' history of touch interactions from early on in life influence how they experience touch in later life (Bales et al, 2018), and there are differences between individuals in how comfortable they are with touch in general, which can be captured by touch avoidance (Ozolins and Sandberg, 2009) or longing for touch questionnaires (Beßler et al, 2020). The Covid-19 pandemic has made palpable that a lack of social touch can have negative consequences for well-being, with research into "touch hunger" (Field et al, 2020;Durkin et al, 2021) finding that the majority of people profoundly miss being touched by others.…”

Section: Social Aspects Of Touch and Hapticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manifesto for Digital Social Touch in Crisis

Jewitt

Price

Steimle

et al. 2021

Front. Comput. Sci.

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This qualitative exploratory research paper presents a Manifesto for Digital Social Touch in Crisis - a provocative call to action to designers, developers and researchers to rethink and reimagine social touch through a deeper engagement with the social and sensory aspects of touch. This call is motivated by concerns that social touch is in a crisis signaled by a decline in social touch over the past 2 decades, the problematics of inappropriate social touch, and the well documented impact of a lack of social touch on communication, relationships, and well-being and health. These concerns shape how social touch enters the digital realm and raise questions for how and when the complex space of social touch is mediated by technologies, as well the societal implications. The paper situates the manifesto in the key challenges facing haptic designers and developers identified through a series of interdisciplinary collaborative workshops with participants from computer science, design, engineering, HCI and social science from both within industry and academia, and the research literature on haptics. The features and purpose of the manifesto form are described, along with our rationale for its use, and the method of the manifesto development. The starting points, opportunities and challenges, dominant themes and tensions that shaped the manifesto statements are then elaborated on. The paper shows the potential of the manifesto form to bridge between HCI, computer science and engineers, and social scientists on the topic of social touch.

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The “Longing for Interpersonal Touch Picture Questionnaire”: Development of a new measurement for touch perception

Cited by 28 publications

References 23 publications

The Effects of Ageing on Tactile Function in Humans

The Effects of Ageing on Tactile Function in Humans

Out of touch: Touch deprivation and affective touch perception during the COVID-19 pandemic

Manifesto for Digital Social Touch in Crisis

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