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Romantic Physical Affection Types and Relationship Satisfaction
Abstract
College students (N = 295, 100 men, 195 women) responded to a questionnaire examining their preferences and attitudes regarding romantic physical affection (PA) types and relationship satisfaction (sexual intimacy is excluded from the scope of this study). The seven PA types examined are backrubs/massages, caressing/stroking, cuddling/holding, holding hands, hugging, kissing on the lips, and kissing on the face (not lips). In general, PA is found to be highly correlated with relationship and partner satisfaction as is suggested by prior research. Respondents' attitudes regarding the seven PA types are given in ordinal data (with gender differentiation) across the dimensions favorite, frequent, intimate, and expressive of love. Those respondents currently involved in romantic relationships provided information as to the average amounts of each PA type they engage in per week. These amounts were significantly correlated with relationship and partner satisfaction for all PA types except holding hands and caressing/stroking. Conflict resolution was generally found to be easier with more PA, but the amount of conflict was irrespective of PA. Conflict was resolved easier with increasing amounts of cuddling/holding (p < .01), kissing on the lips (p < .01), and hugging (p < .05). The implications of these findings are discussed.We thank D. Russell Crane, Thomas B. Holman, Jeffry H. Larson, Donovan Fleming, Matthew P. Spackman, Darhl M. Pedersen, Bruce N. Carpenter, Jared Montoya, Cassiey Dorius, and Bruce L. Brown for assistance in providing survey respondents for the present study.
... Kissing, hugging, holding hands, and physical affection in general are positively related to relationship outcomes for both heteronormative and sexual minority couples [3,15,16]. Physical displays of affection refer to "any touch intended to arouse feelings of love in the giver and/or the recipient," [13, p. 234]. Typically, physical displays of affection include seven types of behavior: holding hands, hugging, kissing on the lips, kissing on the face, caressing/stroking, cuddling/holding, and backrubs/massages [15]. ...
... Physical displays of affection refer to "any touch intended to arouse feelings of love in the giver and/or the recipient," [13, p. 234]. Typically, physical displays of affection include seven types of behavior: holding hands, hugging, kissing on the lips, kissing on the face, caressing/stroking, cuddling/holding, and backrubs/massages [15]. These types of behavior are thought of as nonsexual, romantic, and not as a precursor to intercourse. ...
... Acts of physical affection are positively related to relationship satisfaction [15]. Moreover, hugs from one's partner are associated with an increase in the release of the hormone oxytocin, which helps couples form lasting relationship bonds [17]. ...
This research investigated whether LGBTQ* minority stress and public displays of affection (PDA; e.g., kissing, hugging) among LGBTQ* couples are context-sensitive. We expected that (a) LQBTQ* minority stress would be more prevalent in a harmful (i.e., city center) versus a less harmful (i.e., university campus) context, and (b) PDA would be reduced for LGBTQ* couples in a harmful context. In three studies, LGBTQ* and Hetero/Cis students ( N Total = 517) reported LGBTQ*-specific minority stress and PDA in the city and on campus. The city center was higher in minority stress than the campus in all studies. Also, LGBTQ* participants’ PDA enjoyment was lower in the city than on campus (Studies 1 and 3). Minority stress mediated the context effect on PDA (Study 3). A qualitative analysis illuminated the harmful versus protective natures of public contexts. We conclude that a protective context can powerfully promote healthy LGBTQ* relationship behavior.
... In the current research, we consider how frequently leisure activities occur in the presence of various social groups, whether leisure in each context contributes to romantic relationship quality, and whether group leisure activities may be particularly beneficial for those experiencing lower relationship quality. Additionally, leisure is only one type of behavior among a host of relationship behaviors that have been linked to relationship quality (e.g., Berg et al., 2001;Dobson et al., 2020;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004). However, each relationship behavior has largely been examined independently, and thus the current literature has failed to account for the nonindependence of these behaviors. ...
... Therefore, we examine how the rate and proportion of time spent with one's romantic partner engaging in various relationship behaviors (leisure, household chores, communication, and physical affection) is associated with relationship quality and commitment to determine the unique contribution of leisure to relationship maintenance. Leisure, physical affection, and communication have all been independently linked to higher relationship quality (e.g., Berg et al., 2001;Dobson et al., 2020;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sharaievska et al., 2013;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004), and thus we predicted that higher rates of these behaviors with one's partner would be associated with higher relationship satisfaction and commitment. The literature with regard to household chores is less clear, as the focus has largely been on equity in the division of labor, rather than on the relational impact of partner's joint engagement in these behaviors. ...
... Interestingly, despite previous research independently linking each to relationship quality (e.g., Berg et al., 2001;Dobson et al., 2020;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sharaievska et al., 2013;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004), there were no significant, unique effects of the rate of leisure, chores, communication, or physical affection in the short or long term for satisfaction, and no short-term effects for commitment. These null findings should not imply that these behaviors are not meaningful or that they should be done less frequently. ...
Shared leisure activities with one’s romantic partner are beneficial for both partners and their romantic relationship, but may not exclusively occur with only the partners present. The current research examines the impact of leisure and other relationship behaviors in various social contexts on romantic relationship quality (satisfaction and commitment). Data were collected from a representative sample of couples over the course of 9 months ( N = 232 couples at Phase 1), including two 10-day daily diaries documenting engagement in 59 behaviors across various social contexts. Results demonstrated that leisure with one’s partner (without others) was positively associated with short-term relationship quality, whereas leisure with others (without one’s partner) was negatively associated with relationship quality; leisure with one’s partner and others and leisure alone were not associated with relationship quality. When considering engagement in other relationship behaviors with one’s partner, we found no unique effects of the rates of the behaviors, but significant effects for the proportion of physical affection relative to other behaviors. These findings suggest that the content and context of leisure have unique roles in romantic relationships.
... In the current research, we consider how frequently leisure activities occur in the presence of various social groups, whether leisure in each context contributes to romantic relationship quality, and whether group leisure activities may be particularly beneficial for those experiencing lower relationship quality. Additionally, leisure is only one type of behavior among a host of relationship behaviors that have been linked to relationship quality (e.g., Berg et al., 2001;Dobson et al., 2020;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004). However, each relationship behavior has largely been examined independently, and thus the current literature has failed to account for the nonindependence of these behaviors. ...
... Therefore, we examine how the rate and proportion of time spent with one's romantic partner engaging in various relationship behaviors (leisure, household chores, communication, and physical affection) is associated with relationship quality and commitment to determine the unique contribution of leisure to relationship maintenance. Leisure, physical affection, and communication have all been independently linked to higher relationship quality (e.g., Berg et al., 2001;Dobson et al., 2020;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sharaievska et al., 2013;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004), and thus we predicted that higher rates of these behaviors with one's partner would be associated with higher relationship satisfaction and commitment. The literature with regard to household chores is less clear, as the focus has largely been on equity in the division of labor, rather than on the relational impact of partner's joint engagement in these behaviors. ...
... Interestingly, despite previous research independently linking each to relationship quality (e.g., Berg et al., 2001;Dobson et al., 2020;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sharaievska et al., 2013;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004), there were no significant, unique effects of the rate of leisure, chores, communication, or physical affection in the short or long term for satisfaction, and no short-term effects for commitment. These null findings should not imply that these behaviors are not meaningful or that they should be done less frequently. ...
Shared leisure activities with one’s romantic partner are beneficial for both partners and their romantic relationship, but may not exclusively occur with only the partners present. The current research examines the impact of leisure and other relationship behaviors in various social contexts on romantic relationship quality (satisfaction and commitment). Data were collected from a representative sample of couples over the course of nine months (N=232 couples at Phase 1), including two 10-day daily diaries documenting engagement in 59 behaviors across various social contexts. Results demonstrated that leisure with one’s partner (without others) was positively associated with short-term relationship quality, whereas leisure with others (without one’s partner) was negatively associated with relationship quality; leisure with one’s partner and others and leisure alone were not associated with relationship quality. When considering engagement in other relationship behaviors with one’s partner, we found no unique effects of the rates of the behaviors, but significant effects for the proportion of physical affection relative to other behaviors. These findings suggest that the content and context of leisure have unique roles in romantic relationships.
... Touch has relational benefits as well. For example, research has reported that touch may increase relational satisfaction, closeness, and liking (Burgoon et al., 1984;Gulledge et al., 2003;Strauss et al., 2020;Suvilehto et al., 2015). Touch provided by a confederate within a female dyad has been found to be assessed as more polite by third-party observers (Trees & Manusov, 1998), thus it is worthwhile to explore observers' perceptions of touch within interpersonal settings. ...
... Based on the findings from the present study and previous literature, it is apparent that supportive messages and supportive touch can have positive outcomes (Authors, blinded; Gulledge et al., 2003). Previous research conducted by the authors (blinded) found that supportive messages interacted with touch and enhanced perceptions of the support provider's levels of supportiveness, sensitivity, and helpfulness. ...
The present study examines how supportive tactile communication impacts evaluations of esteem support messages containing high emotion-focused (HEF) or high problem-focused (HPF) content. A 2 (verbal content; i.e., HEF or HPF) by 2 (nonverbal content; i.e., presence or absence of supportive tactile communication) quasi-experiment was conducted to test for main and interactional effects of messages on relational outcomes. Participants (N = 409) were randomly assigned to watch one of four videotaped esteem support interactions between friends in which verbal content and nonverbal behavior were manipulated. Then, participants rated perceived relational outcome items (i.e., relational satisfaction, closeness, liking). Results from the experiment revealed that HEF conditions were rated significantly higher on perceptions of satisfaction, closeness, and liking compared to the HPF conditions. Additionally, supportive tactile communication conditions were rated significantly higher on perceptions of satisfaction, closeness, and liking compared to conditions with no supportive tactile communication. The 2-way interactions also revealed that the inclusion of supportive tactile communication with HEF and HPF content, increased perceptions of satisfaction, closeness, and liking beyond verbal content alone. Theoretical and pragmatic implications, in addition to limitations and future avenues for research, are also discussed.
... This, in turn, downregulates physiological stress parameters. Correspondingly, in laboratory studies, gentle forms of intimacy between romantic partners (e.g., shoulder massage or hugging; holding hands during conflict discussions) have been found to lower people's stress-induced cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pressure (Ditzen et al., 2007(Ditzen et al., , 2019Gulledge et al., 2003;Light et al., 2005). In daily-life studies, cortisol, as a biomarker of stress that indexes activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (Piazza et al., 2010), is uniquely suited to highlight both between-and within-person characteristics that relate to stress reactivity (Hoppmann et al., 2018). ...
... Based on prior research on physical intimacy in the everyday lives of younger and middle-aged couples (Ditzen et al., 2008), we focused on overall daily cortisol secretion operationally defined by the area under the curve with respect to ground (AUC g : Pruessner et al., 2003). In our models, we controlled for variables known to influence daily emotions, cortisol profiles, and physical intimacy (including chronological age, education, body mass index [BMI], and relationship satisfaction: Gulledge et al., 2003;Hoppmann et al., 2018;Wrzus et al., 2013). We utilized gender as a distinguishing variable (Bolger & Laurenceau, 2013), but did not have any specific predictions regarding gender differences in the pattern of results. ...
Objectives:
Physical intimacy is important for communicating affection in romantic relationships. Theoretical and empirical work highlights linkages between physical intimacy, affect, and physiological stress among young and middle-aged adults, but not older adults. We examine physical intimacy and its associations with positive and negative affect and cortisol levels in the daily lives of older couples.
Method:
We applied actor-partner multilevel models to repeated daily life assessments of physical intimacy (experienced and wished) and affect obtained six times a day over seven consecutive days from 120 older heterosexual German couples (Mage= 71.6, SDage= 5.94). Physiological stress was indexed as total daily cortisol output, the area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg).
Results:
Physical intimacy experienced and wished were reported at the vast majority of occasions, but to different degrees at different times. Within persons, in moments when participants experienced more physical intimacy, older women reported less negative affect, whereas older men reported more positive affect. Between persons, higher overall levels of physical intimacy experienced were associated with higher positive affect and less negative affect among women and with lower daily cortisol output among men. A stronger wish for intimacy was related to more negative affect among both women and men, and to higher daily cortisol output among men.
Discussion:
Physical intimacy is linked with mood and stress hormones in the daily life of older couples. We consider routes for future inquiry on physical intimacy among older adults.
... Affectionate touch (i.e., touch intended to demonstrate affection; Floyd, 2006) is a powerful modality of communicating intimacy in close relationships (Debrot et al., 2013;Gulledge et al., 2003). In romantic relationships particularly, touch has unique properties, as certain body parts are only allowed to be touched by the partner (Suvilehto et al., 2015), and the frequency of touch is high. ...
... 3 We conducted additional analyses to control for and test for moderations by relationship length and age (see Supplemental Material F). Moreover, to verify if the results would hold beyond two aspects related to touch-relationship quality (Gulledge et al., 2003) and sexual activity (van Anders et al., 2013)-we controlled for these variables in all studies (see Supplemental Material G). ...
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.
... Although less studied, touch may be similarly important in the formation and maintenance of adult relationships (King & Christensen, 1983). Research supports that relationship satisfaction is positively related to level of physical affection in romantic relationships (Gulledge, Gulledge, & Stahmannn, 2003) and in marriage (Bell, Daly, & Gonzalez, 1987;Svetlik, Dooley, Weiner, Williamson, & Walters, 2005). In a study of marital-type relationships where the relationships had lasted at least 30 years, expression of physical affection was cited as a very important factor in shaping the quality of the relationship (Mackey, Diemer, & O'Brien, 2000). ...
... Gulledge and colleagues (Gulledge et al., 2003) defined physical affection as "any touch intended to arouse feelings of love in the giver and/or the recipient." We build on this definition by adding that ideally, the touch is appropriate to the setting, does not interfere with goal-directed behavior, and may or may not be oriented toward immediate sexual gratification. ...
... Intimate kissing is often grouped with other behaviours, such as cuddling and hand holding, as measures of physical intimacy and affection (e.g., Lefkowitz et al., 2019). Gulledge, Gulledge, and Stahmannn (2006) found that kissing was considered the most intimate of a range of behaviours (e.g., hugging and massages). ...
... Participants described experiences of lip-to-lip kissing as an intense sensory experience that engaged smells, tastes and touch, belying its status as a low intimacy, quasi-sexual experience. These findings reinforce those from the small body of work that demonstrates how profoundly intimate kissing is experienced to be and its close connection to relationship satisfaction (Gulledge et al., 2006;Hughes et al., 2007). Indeed, breath, touch, scent and taste were key features of quality kisses, and at par with the emotional connection with the partner in many respects. ...
Intimate kissing is often viewed as a preliminary or ancillary behaviour in studies exploring sexual interactions. There is a lack of research that focuses on differentiating the types of intimate kisses, including the contexts in which they occur, and desirable and undesirable features. The current study was designed to assess memories of first, best, forbidden and worst kisses. Participants were 691 U.S. adults (mean age 32.27 years; 55% identified as male) who completed an online survey addressing kissing attitudes and experiences using both structured and open-ended survey tools. Four themes emerged through content analysis: physical components, connection to the partner, context, and emotions evoked; and these are discussed for all four types of kissing memories. Findings are discussed in terms of embodiment that intimate kisses capture, their role as a metric of one's attraction to a partner, and the means by which kissing experiences might solidify a sense of oneself as a sexual person.
... All three of the aforementioned indicators of couple engagement have been linked to greater sexual intimacy and higher relationship quality (Berg et al., 2001;Gulledge et al., 2003;Johnson et al., 2006;Sharaievska et al., 2013;Dobson et al., 2020). However, few studies have visited couple engagement as a possible explanatory mechanism (i.e., mediator) of economic distress on sexual intimacy within the context of remarital unions . ...
Introduction
Economic distress and the relationship stability of remarried couples has been subject to some exploration, but less emphasis has been placed on how economic distress among remarried couples impacts other relationship domains, particularly sexual intimacy.
Methods
Through the lens of multidimensional family development theory (MFDT), this study utilizes longitudinal data over a three-year period to examine the links between economic distress, couple engagement, relationship satisfaction, and perceptions of sexual intimacy among remarried couples ( n = 1,161 couples; 97% White).
Results
Through a dyadic structural equation model, results showed that wives’ report of economic distress was directly related to their self-rejection of a partner’s sexual advances. Findings also revealed gender differences in how both relationship satisfaction and couple engagement influenced one to accept or reject their partner’s sexual advances, with couple engagement acting as a significant predictor for wives. Relationship satisfaction was also found to explain (i.e., mediate) the relation between economic distress and sexual intimacy, but only for husbands.
Discussion
Implications for further research and interventions designed to strengthen the relationships of remarried couples dealing with economic distress and intimacy issues are offered.
... On the day of this intervention participants completed additional questions in the evening survey about the type of physical affection shown, given that they previously indicated having implemented the task. Based on categories identified by Gulledge et al. (2003), they could choose between the following options (multiple options could be selected): giving a massage, caressing, cuddling, holding hands, hugging, kisses on the lips, kisses on the face/ body, as well as sex or other (which included a follow-up query for specification). They were further asked to indicate on a continuous slider with answers ranging from not at all (=0) to very strongly (=10), how much the physical affection shown went beyond usual levels. ...
Relationship closeness is considered an important psychological variable for studying couple relationships, and is often postulated as cause for important relationship outcomes. The current study evaluates four micro-interventions for their suitability to experimentally elicit feelings of closeness towards one’s partner. Using participants’ smartphones, and a combination of experience sampling, event sampling, and ecological momentary interventions, individuals reported for a week on their experiences of closeness before and after completing daily either a neutral task or a task meant to enhance relationship closeness. The closeness tasks included showing physical affection, sharing a childhood memory, looking each other in the eyes for five minutes, and discussing shared life achievements. Results of intention-to-treat analyses on a within-person level showed that closeness increased from pre- to post-measurement on average more strongly on days of any of the four examined closeness conditions than on days of the neutral control conditions. Interindividual variability of this effect was observed, emphasizing the relevance of using within-person designs to evaluate such interventions. Exploratory analyses showed that effect sizes declined across time within the day. This study provides instruments for research on causal effects of closeness in everyday relationship life, and an evidence basis for smartphone-delivered interventions in practitioner settings.
... Whereas touching the arms and hands is considered mostly neutral, touching other parts of the body can mean and be perceived in several different ways, that are contextdependent and can range from positive (Willis and Briggs, 1992;Suvilehto et al., 2015) to highly unpleasant and intrusive (Lee and Guerrero, 2001). While a causal role of social touch for short-term partner choice might be questionable (Herz and Cahill, 1997), it gets clear that the quality of affective touch is tightly linked to relationship satisfaction in adult romantic couples (Gulledge et al., 2003;Hertenstein et al., 2006;Wagner et al., 2020) and, therefore, might be an important factor for long-term mate choice. ...
Mate choice is a potent generator of diversity and a fundamental pillar for sexual selection and evolution. Mate choice is a multistage affair, where complex sensory information and elaborate actions are used to identify, scrutinize, and evaluate potential mating partners. While widely accepted that communication during mate assessment relies on multimodal cues, most studies investigating the mechanisms controlling this fundamental behavior have restricted their focus to the dominant sensory modality used by the species under examination, such as vision in humans and smell in rodents. However, despite their undeniable importance for the initial recognition, attraction, and approach towards a potential mate, other modalities gain relevance as the interaction progresses, amongst which are touch and audition. In this review, we will: (1) focus on recent findings of how touch and audition can contribute to the evaluation and choice of mating partners, and (2) outline our current knowledge regarding the neuronal circuits processing touch and audition (amongst others) in the context of mate choice and ask (3) how these neural circuits are connected to areas that have been studied in the light of multisensory integration.
... Among other maintenance strategies, the studies examined positivity (e.g., upbeat during conversations, avoiding criticism), assurance (e.g., expressions of love, affirming commitment), social networks (e.g., spending time with common friends) and sharing tasks (e.g., engaging in household chores), which also resemble some aspects of the Words of Affirmation, Quality Time or Acts of service LLs. In addition, romantic physical touch was previously found to be strongly correlated with the relationship and partner satisfaction [51]. Receiving gifts was yet another factor that was previously found to be positively associated with the relationship strength, perceived similarity, as well as evaluation of the relationships' future potential [e.g. ...
Chapman's Love Languages hypothesis claims that (1) people vary in the ways they prefer to receive and express affection and (2) romantic partners who communicate their feelings congruent with their partner's preferences experience greater relationship quality. The author proposes five distinct preferences and tendencies for expressing love, including: Acts of Service, Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time and Gifts. In the present study partners (N = 100 heterosexual couples) completed measures assessing their preferences and behavioral tendencies for a) expressions of love and b) reception of signs of affection, for each of the five proposed "love languages". Relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and empathy were also assessed. The degree of the within-couple mismatch was calculated separately for each individual based on the discrepancies between the person's felt (preferred) and their partner's expressed love language. The joint mismatch indicator was a sum of discrepancies across the five love languages. Matching on love languages was associated with both relationship and sexual satisfaction. In particular, people who expressed their affection in the way their partners preferred to receive it, experienced greater satisfaction with their relationships and were more sexually satisfied compared to those who met their partner's needs to lesser extent. Empathy was expected to be a critical factor for better understanding of and responding to the partner's needs. Results provided some support for this hypothesis among male but not female participants.
... The impact of social touch on social attachment is not just limited to the parentchild relationship, but also in other intimate relationships. When we feel alone or anxious, a warm hug or hand held in a warm hand by the partner can positively impact our mental state, and create an affective connection between couples [75]. Recent research has shown that the social touch performed between couples could lead to the release of oxytocin in our brains, which helps lower stress levels and blood pressure, provide trust and security, and further help form a lasting social relationship [76]. ...
As one of the most important non-verbal communication channels, touch is widely used for different purposes. It is a powerful force in human physical and psychological development, shaping social structures as well as communicating emotions. However, even though current information and communication technology (ICT) systems enable the use of various non-verbal languages, the support of communicating through the sense of touch is still insufficient. Inspired by the cross-modal interaction of human perception, the approach I present in this dissertation is to use multimodality to improve mediated touch interaction. Following this approach, I present three devices that provide empirical contributions to multimodal touch interaction: VisualTouch, SansTouch, and In-Flat. To understand if multimodal stimuli can improve the emotional perception of touch, I present the VisualTouch device, and quantitatively evaluate the cross-modal interaction between the visual and tactile modality. To investigate the use of different modalities in real touch communication, I present the SansTouch device, which provides empirical insights on multimodal interaction and skin-like touch generation in the context of face-to-face communication. Going one step forward in the use of multimodal stimuli in touch interaction, I present the In-Flat device, an input/output touch overlay for smartphones. In-Flat not only provides further insights on the skin-like touch generation, but also a better understanding of the role that mediated touch plays in more general contexts. In summary, this dissertation strives to bridge the gap between touch communication and HCI, by contributing to the design and understanding of multimodal stimuli in mediated touch interaction.
... The current study fills this gap by examining the impact of AFE on customer RET through the intermediaries' variables. This research complements empirical data by examining the direct effects of affection on trust (La and Choi 2012), satisfaction (Gulledge et al. 2003), loyalty (Chi and Han 2020), and retention (Yim et al. 2008). In some aspect, the current article builds on the work of Parawansa (2018), by integrating satisfaction as a mediating variable to examine customer retention. ...
In a context of increasing competition among financial service institutions, customer affection, and retention are a key factor for survival and success. The main goal of the study is to understand how affection effects customer retention in the presence of trust, satisfaction, and loyalty. Structural equation modelling (SEM) with mediation analysis is used on a sample of 940 to evaluate the model. The finding of this study showed that trust alone is not sufficient in mediating the relationship between affection and retention. However, trust, in combination with satisfaction and loyalty, acts as an intermediary between affection and retention. These results can help commercial banks to understand the causes for customer retention in a rapidly changing and competitive environment.
... Within mixed-sex romantic relationships, those who report more affectionate touch with their partner show better relationship functioning, including increased relationship satisfaction (Floyd et al., 2009), better conflict resolution (Gulledge et al., 2003), and reduced likelihood of divorce (Huston et al., 2001). Partners who share affectionate touch also experience psychological and physical health benefits: better life satisfaction (Debrot et al., 2017), increased positive mood (Debrot et al., 2013), reduced mental stress (Floyd et al., 2009), and a more efficient physiological stress response (Ditzen et al., 2008;Floyd, 2006). ...
This study compared public versus private affection-sharing experiences of individuals in mixed-sex ( N = 1018), same-sex ( N = 561), and gender-diverse ( N = 96) relationships. Private affection-sharing was similar across groups, except those in mixed-sex relationships reported somewhat less comfort doing so. Despite having a stronger desire to engage in public affection-sharing, those in same-sex and gender-diverse relationships shared public affection less frequently, were less comfortable doing so, refrained from doing so more often, and experienced much higher levels of vigilance related to public affection-sharing, compared to those in mixed-sex relationships. Heightened PDA-related vigilance may have health consequences, as higher levels were associated with worse psychological and physical well-being in all groups. However, individuals in same-sex relationships showed weaker associations between vigilance and well-being than those in mixed-sex relationships, suggesting possible resilience. Still, engaging in vigilance may take its toll, potentially serving as a mechanism through which minority stress works its effects. When we controlled for PDA-related vigilance, psychological and physical well-being levels in same-sex relationships increased relative to mixed-sex peers.
... Like sexual behaviors, affectionate behaviors are salient within romantic relationships and carry important relational meaning (Floyd, 1997;Jakubiak & Feeney, 2017). For example, prominent sexual script theory (Wiederman, 2005) suggests that women are more likely than men to express affectionate emotions and to engage in or desire affectionate behaviors such as holding hands or cuddling (Floyd, 1997;Gulledge et al., 2003;Muise et al., 2014). ...
Prior experience with physical behaviors - both sexual and affectionate - is common among adults in romantic relationships. However, less is known about differences in physical behaviors for asexual and allosexual adults, and these differences may explain how asexual adults navigate sexuality in romantic relationships. In this study we used sexual script theory to examine asexual (n = 109; 59% women; Mage = 27.7) and allosexual adults' (n = 403; 58% women; Mage = 29.0) prior experiences with and future likelihood to engage in sexual and affectionate behaviors in romantic relationships, and how these differences vary by gender. Asexual adults had less prior experience with and were less likely to intend to engage in future physical behaviors than allosexual adults. There were some gender differences in past experience and future likelihood. Prior experience with physical behaviors was associated with expected likelihood to engage in these behaviors for allosexual and asexual adults, although the association was stronger for asexual adults. These results have implications for how asexual adults engage in physical behaviors, and how differing interest in physical behaviors may cause conflict within asexual-allosexual couples.
... More than that, when commitment is considered, the mediation of SDC is in line with the long-established empirical link between commitment and couple satisfaction (Le & Agnew, 2003;Rusbult & Buunk, 1993). Other consistent findings in past research indicate that affection and expressing affection promote couple satisfaction, a result the present study also endorses, through the mediational effect of SDC (Dainton et al., 1994;Floyd et al., 2005;Gulledge et al., 2003). Nonetheless SDC does not mediate the relation between all dimensions of intimacy and couple satisfaction, results which could also be explained by variables other than SDC. ...
Intimacy and couple satisfaction are some of the main factors related to relationship quality. Likewise, intimacy has long been associated with couple satisfaction as it is one of its most important predictors. Another meaningful correlation of couple satisfaction is supportive dyadic coping, which correlates with the satisfaction in marital and non-marital couples. This present study is aimed to investigate the associations of intimacy and couple satisfaction and to explore the mediating role of supportive dyadic coping. The sample is composed of 105 emerging adults involved in a romantic relationship, who filled up three self-reporting scales. The results indicate that intimacy predicts both couple satisfaction and supportive dyadic coping. Moreover, supportive dyadic coping fully mediates the relationship between overall intimacy / intimate commitment and couple satisfaction. Also, supportive dyadic coping partially mediates the relationship between intimate openness / affection and couple satisfaction. The possible explanations and implications for therapeutical interventions are discussed.
... First, while the conceptualization of intimacy in both the FFP and the underlying model of Reis and Shaver is closely related to what other researchers (e.g., Sinclair & Dowdy, 2005;Yoo et al., 2014) define as emotional intimacy, sexual intimacy aspects such as being physically close, disclosing sexual desires, touch, and physical and non-physical sexual affection (Field, 2010;Holt et al., 2009;Mills & Turnbull, 2004;Popovic, 2005;Prager, 1995;Schaefer & Olson, 1981) are lacking. The fact that research has independently linked emotional as well as sexual aspects of intimate behaviors to personal and relationship well-being (Ditzen et al., 2008;Field, 2010;Gulledge et al., 2003;Laurenceau et al., 2005;Loving & Slatcher, 2013;Marshall, 2008;Mehta et al., 2016;Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004;Sprecher et al., 2013aSprecher et al., , 2013b underlines the importance of considering both emotional and sexual intimacy in experimental research. Therefore, on the one hand, experimental paradigms that include sexual intimacy aspects are needed. ...
The Fast Friends Procedure (FFP) is a widely used experimental paradigm to induce emotional intimacy. Besides exploring the validity of a German translation of the paradigm (n = 46), we developed an extension of the FFP that induces sexual intimacy and assessed heart rate, high-frequency heart rate variability, and electrodermal activity responses to the FFP and its extension. Furthermore, we examined its applicability to individuals with childhood maltreatment (n = 56), who frequently suffer from intimacy-related difficulties. Intimacy, positive affect, liking, and attraction increased during the FFP and partly during the sexual intimacy extension in both study groups. Moreover, both groups showed physiological responses consistent with positive social interactions. The use of the German FFP and its sexual intimacy extension can thus be recommended for research in the general population and in individuals with childhood maltreatment, although more studies are needed to further validate the paradigms.
... Based on literature, we explored a range of other variables that may improve the prediction accuracy, or potentially influence, the effect of attachment and sexuality on relationship quality (see Table 1). Variables related to the relationship itself include: (i) duration of the relationship, which is expected to be inversely related to overall relationship satisfaction (Birditt et al., 2009), however, relationships that have existed for longer prior to the pandemic might be more stable and less subject to changes in quality over the course of the lockdown, (ii) whether dyadic partners live together, (iii) physical contact in general and specific to the partner, since touching interactions are known to relate to bonding as well as stress management, yet are poorly investigated (Brennan et al., 1998;Ditzen et al., 2007;Van Anders et al., 2013), and (iv) demonstration of affection in romantic couples (i.e., kissing) which has been found to relate to conflict resolution and relationship satisfaction (Gulledge et al., 2003;Floyd et al., 2009). Moreover, we also investigated aspects known to load on the dimensions independence, intimacy, and agreement/conflicts of relationship quality, respectively (see Hassebrauck and Fehr, 2002). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic along with the restrictions that were introduced within Europe starting in spring 2020 allows for the identification of predictors for relationship quality during unstable and stressful times. The present study began as strict measures were enforced in response to the rising spread of the COVID-19 virus within Austria, Poland, Spain and Czech Republic. Here, we investigated quality of romantic relationships among 313 participants as movement restrictions were implemented and subsequently phased out cross-nationally. Participants completed self-report questionnaires over a period of 7 weeks, where we predicted relationship quality and change in relationship quality using machine learning models that included a variety of potential predictors related to psychological, demographic and environmental variables. On average, our machine learning models predicted 29% (linear models) and 22% (non-linear models) of the variance with regard to relationship quality. Here, the most important predictors consisted of attachment style (anxious attachment being more influential than avoidant), age, and number of conflicts within the relationship. Interestingly, environmental factors such as the local severity of the pandemic did not exert a measurable influence with respect to predicting relationship quality. As opposed to overall relationship quality, the change in relationship quality during lockdown restrictions could not be predicted accurately by our machine learning models when utilizing our selected features. In conclusion, we demonstrate cross-culturally that attachment security is a major predictor of relationship quality during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, whereas fear, pathogenic threat, sexual behavior, and the severity of governmental regulations did not significantly influence the accuracy of prediction.
... Preferences in romantic physical affection as hugging, cuddling, caressing, stroking, kissing, holding hands has been studied in connection with relationship satisfaction. Tactile physical affection was highly correlated with overall relationship and partner satisfaction (Gulledge, Gulledge & Stahmann, 2003). We suppose that intensive physical contact between partners may sustain feelings of passionate love. ...
The purpose of the study was to examine possible predictors of Passionate love (Hatfield & Sprecher, l986) in long--term heterosexual romantic relationships. The research sample consisted of 147 participants, currently being in a long-term relationship (Md= 102 months). The strongest relationship was found between Passionate Love and variables: Sexual Attraction, Enjoying Time Together, Relationship Happiness and Partner’s Attractiveness. Passionate Love and Length of Relationship correlated negatively. 47.8 per cent of variance of Passionate love can be explained by regression model, which includes following
variables: Enjoying Time Together, Sexual Attraction, Jealousy, Relationship Happiness and Relationship Satisfaction. Relationship Happiness, Relationship Satisfaction and Enjoying Time Together are moderate predictors of Passionate love.
Keywords: love; passionate love; Passionate Love Scale; predictors of passionate love; long-term relationships
... Moreover, future research should test moderator variables other than the perceived relationship quality of couple-members from a dualistic perspective. As one of the most fundamental communication ways, touch is associated with many physical and psychological outcomes for the couple, such as daily stress (Burleson et al., 2007), mood (Ditzen et al., 2008), and relationship satisfaction (Gulledge et al., 2003). Therefore, it is important for researchers to explore the active influencing factors of touch-induced positive effect. ...
Because of the impact of close partner's touch on psychological and physical well-being by alleviating stress, it is important to explore the influence factors that underlie the stress-alleviating effect of close partner's touch. Previous studies suggested that the stress-alleviating effect was different when individuals were touched by different persons. Specifically, the stress was reduced significantly when the individual was touched by the close partner compared with the acquaintance and the stranger. However, whether the stress-alleviating effect of touch was modulated by the close relationship quality is unknown. To examine this question, the participants (n = 61) performed a 3 (i.e., alone, partner no-touch, and partner touch) × 2 (i.e., safety and threat) within-subjects experiment. The results revealed that the stress of the participants alleviated significantly while close partners present with touch compared with without touch during facing a threat. We also found that the relationship quality of couple-members (i.e., participants perceiving the quality of alternatives and the partners' commitment level) modulated touch-induced stress alleviation. Participants perceiving the low quality of alternatives and the high partners' commitment level showed stronger touch-induced stress-alleviating effect than participants perceiving the high quality of alternatives and the low partners' commitment level. The explained variance was around 16.8% jointly for actor and partner effects. These findings provide evidence for explaining the reasons for touch-induced alleviating stress and have important implications for predicting the future effect of interactive behaviors.
... Touch is a way to convey support and affection for others, whether this is through hugs, pats on the back, hand-holding or high fives (Light, Grewen, & Amico, 2005). Increased physical affection has been linked with relationship and partner satisfaction and conflict resolution (Gulledge, Gulledge, & Stahmannn, 2003). ...
The capacity to cultivate flourishing relationships has important implications for health and well-being (Reis & Gable, 2003). There is increasingly a focus in positive psychology, and related fields, on identifying the positive processes and skills that can be employed to foster warm, momentary connections with others, as well as long-lasting, life-enhancing social bonds. At the basis of many of these skills is a requirement to cultivate an interest and concern for others; an orientation towards supporting and promoting other people’s well-being. This orientation towards others has the potential to positively impact well-being beyond the participants in the interaction. The benefits of positive social connections have been found to ripple out to other people in the network (Fowler & Christakis, 2009). Therefore the potential positive impacts of developing and cultivating positive relationships are substantial and wide-reaching.
... Touch evidently plays a role in romantic couples. Gulledge, Gulledge, and Stahmann (2003) found a high correlation between affective touch and overall relationship and partner satisfaction. People may also experience comfort from the touch of nonromantic relationships such as peers and friends, and even pets provide social and emotional support for their owners (McConnell et al. 2011). ...
This article addresses the notion of touch and its constitutive role in the participatory sense-making process (de Jaegher and Paolo 2007) of play and dance improvisation. It is argued that touch is always relational, as it continuously changes the contours of self, other(ness), and world(ing). It is therefore surprising that touch traditionally has received little attention in philosophy. Phenomenology and the enactive account however do hint to the vital role of touch in embodied interaction. The first part of the article consists of a discussion of key concepts, such as the duplicity of touch, the enactive account, participatory sense-making (de Jaegher and Paolo 2007), and intercorporeality. A short research overview is provided on the role of interpersonal touch in daily life. In the second part of the research I shift to the artistic practice. I discuss the Touch Project, a play|dance improvisation project that is part of my artistic research and that explores the notion of touch in a creative and experimental setting. Through an embodied inquiry, I explore how touch contributes to an embodied, relational knowing. The article concludes with some practical suggestions on enhancing body-mind awareness and encouraging playfulness through the use of interpersonal touch. It offers touch exercises that can be used in an educational setting to promote interconnectedness and a sense of community.
... In adulthood, people commonly touch in their close-especially romantic-relationships, which fosters and maintains intimacy (e.g., Debrot et al., 2013). In general, more frequent touch is associated with more positive relationship well-being (e.g., satisfaction, commitment) in adulthood (e.g., Gulledge et al., 2003;Muise et al., 2014; for review, see Jakubiak & Feeney, 2017). Experimental studies corroborate these correlational findings and document that touch promotes relationship security, constructive conflict behavior, and relationship satisfaction (Floyd et al., 2009;Jakubiak & Feeney, 2016a, 2016b. ...
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.
... Based on literature, we explored a range of other variables that may improve the prediction accuracy, or potentially influence, the effect of attachment and sexuality on relationship quality (see Table 1). Variables related to the relationship itself include: (i) duration of the relationship, which is expected to be inversely related to overall relationship satisfaction (Birditt et al., 2009), however, relationships that have existed for longer prior to the pandemic might be more stable and less subject to changes in quality over the course of the lockdown, (ii) whether dyadic partners live together, (iii) physical contact in general and specific to the partner, since touching interactions are known to relate to bonding as well as stress management, yet are poorly investigated (Brennan et al., 1998;Ditzen et al., 2007;Van Anders et al., 2013), and (iv) demonstration of affection in romantic couples (i.e., kissing) which has been found to relate to conflict resolution and relationship satisfaction (Gulledge et al., 2003;Floyd et al., 2009). Moreover, we also investigated aspects known to load on the dimensions independence, intimacy, and agreement/conflicts of relationship quality, respectively (see Hassebrauck and Fehr, 2002). ...
**Please refer to the final version (open access!): www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647956/full ** The COVID-19 pandemic along with the restrictions that were introduced within Europe starting in spring 2020 allows for the identification of predictors for relationship quality during unstable and stressful times.The present study began as strict measures were enforced in response to the rising spread of the COVID-19 virus within Austria, Poland, Spain and Czech Republic. Here, we investigated quality of romantic relationships among 313 participants as movement restrictions were implemented and subsequently phased out cross-nationally. Participants completed self-report questionnaires over a period of seven weeks, where we predicted relationship quality and change in relationship quality using machine learning models that included a variety of potential predictors related to psychological, demographic and environmental variables.On average, our machine learning models predicted 29% (linear models) and 22% (non-linear models) of the variance with regard to relationship quality. Here, the most important predictors consisted of attachment style (anxious attachment being more influential than avoidant), age, and number of conflicts within the relationship. Interestingly, environmental factors such as the local severity of the pandemic did not exert a measurable influence with respect to predicting relationship quality. As opposed to overall relationship quality, the change in relationship quality during lockdown restrictions could not be predicted accurately by our machine learning models when utilizing our selected features.In conclusion, we demonstrate cross-culturally that attachment security is a major predictor of relationship quality during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, whereas fear, pathogenic threat, sexual behavior, and the severity of governmental regulations did not significantly influence the accuracy of prediction.
... Unsurprisingly, the importance of touch as a means of interpersonal communication has also been documented in romantic relationships (e.g., Gulledge et al., 2003;Hollender, 1970;Montagu, 1979). Note that Montagu (1971) even went so far as to suggest that touch and love are indivisible! ...
... Therefore, the perception of companionship, affectivity, respect, and dialogue in their relationships would be predictors of satisfaction. Other studies also found these variables as predictors of satisfaction (e.g., Floyd et al. 2005;Gulledge et al. 2003;Norgren et al. 2004;Shackelford and Buss 2000). ...
This study identifies concepts associated with positive valence of romantic relationship and partner, in order to characterize the schemas about these two phenomena. Participants (N = 158, 134 women) were asked to write about the positive aspects of their relationship and their partner. These reports were subjected to lexical and content analysis. Nineteen categories emerged, related to the concepts that compose the relationship schema, and 21 others related to the partner. Words and categories most frequently mentioned to characterize positive aspects of the relationship were companionship and trust, and to characterize positive aspects of the partner were caring and affectionate. There was recurrence in words and categories used among participants, indicating consensus about which aspects are positive in a relationship and a romantic partner. Differences in relationship satisfaction levels between those who mentioned and those who did not mention categories created from the reports were tested. Individuals who mentioned categories as companionship, affection, respect, and dialogue showed higher levels of satisfaction than those who did not mention these categories. The results suggest that the schemes can provide indicators of satisfaction with the relationship.
... Frequent partner hugs might help forming romantic bonds [Gulledge et al., 2007], and demonstrating physical affection through frequent touch contact and hugs is highly correlated to overall relationship and partners satisfaction [Gulledge et al., 2003]. ...
Communicating emotions is important for human attachment and bonding as well as for physical and psychological well-being.We communicate emotions through voice, but also through body language such as facial expressions, posture or touch. Among all these nonverbal cues, the tactile modality plays a particular role. Touch happens in co-located situations and involves physical contact between two individuals. A touch contact can convey emotions such as comforting someone by gently stroking her arm.Current technologies and devices used for mediated communication are not designed to support affective touch communication.There is a need to have new interfaces to mediate touch, both to detect touch (to replace the receiver's skin) and to convey touch (to replace the emitter's hand).My approach takes inspiration from the human body to inform the design of new interfaces. I promote the use of anthropomorphic affordances to design interfaces that benefit from our knowledge of physical interaction with other humans.Anthropomorphic affordances project human functioning and behaviour to the attributes of an object to suggest ways of using it. However, anthropomorphism has received little attention so far in the field of Human-Computer Interaction; its design space is still largely unexplored. In this thesis, I explore this design space and focus on augmenting mobile and robotic devices with tactile capabilities to enhance the conveying of emotions to enrich social communication.This raises two main research problems addressed in this thesis.A first problem is to define the type of device needed to perform touch. Current actuated devices do not produce human-like touch.In the first part of this thesis, I focus on the design and implementation of interfaces capable of producing humanlike touch output.I highlight human touch factors that can be reproduced by an actuated device. I then experimentally evaluate the impact of humanlike device-initiated touch on the perception of emotions.Finally, I built on top of these findings to propose Mobilimb, a small-scale robotic arm that can be connected onto mobile devices and can touch the user.A second problem is to develop interfaces capable of detecting touch input. My approach is to integrate humanlike artificial skin onto existing devices.I propose requirements to replicate the human skin, and a fabrication method for reproducing its visual, tactile and kinaesthetic properties. I then propose an implementation of artificial skin that can be integrated onto existing devices and can sense expressive touch gestures. This interface is then used to explore possible scenarios and applications for mediated touch input.In summary, this thesis contributes to the design and understanding of anthropomorphic devices for affective touch communication. I propose to use anthropomorphic affordances to design interfaces.To address the research questions of this thesis, I built upon human biological characteristics and digital fabrication tools and methods. The devices presented in this thesis propose new technical and empirical contributions around touch detection and touch generation.
... Preferences in romantic physical affection as hugging, cuddling, caressing, stroking, kissing, holding hands has been studied in connection with relationship satisfaction. Gulledge and colleagues reported that tactile physical affection was highly correlated with overall relationship and partner satisfaction (Gulledge & Gulledge, Stahmann, 2003). We suppose that intensive physical contact between partners may play an important role in the way they feel towards their partner including the feeling of passionate love. ...
The present study examined correlates of temperamental dimensions of personality and long-term romantic and passionate love. We explored personality and temperament using the four factor neurohormonal model of personality designed by Helen Fisher (using Fisher Temperament Inventory, FTI; Brown, Aceveno, Fisher, 2013) and its potential association with Lee’s theory (1977) of Love styles (assessed by Love Attitudes Scale, LAS; Hendrick & Hendrick, 1986), Passionate love (measured by Passionate Love Scale, PLS; Hatfield, Sprecher, l986) and selected variables in long term heterosexual romantic relationships. Our research followed correlational, quantitative, non-experimental design. The research sample consisted of 147 participants (66.7 per cent were women, median age was 38 years and median for relationship length was 102 months). Associations between Personality and Love Styles were most evident in following relationships: between Negotiator personality type and Mania (rs = 0.42), Builder and Pragma (rs = 0.348) and between Explorer and Ludus (rs = 0.235). Regression analysis revealed that Negotiator and Builder personality types are both moderate predictors of above-mentioned Love styles. Explorer showed to be a weak predictor of Ludus. Relationship between Love Style and Passionate Love (PLS) was strongest for Eros (rs = 0.511, r2= 0.261), Agape (rs = 0.472, r2= 0.223) and Mania (rs = 0.328, r2= 0.108). Ludus correlated negatively with PLS (rs = - 0.316, r2= 0.10). Storge and Pragma showed to be the least passionate from Lee’s Love styles (Storge: rs = - 0.085; Pragma: rs = 0.024). Links between Personality and Passionate Love were rather weak, the strongest relationship was found between PLS and Negotiator scale (rs = 0. 263) and Builder (rs = 0. 238). Director was negatively related to PLS (rs = - 0.148). Interesting links were discovered between Passionate Love and Selected Variables. Highest correlations were found between PLS and Sexual Attraction (rs = 0. 577), Enjoying Time Together (rs = 0. 538), Relationship Happiness (rs = 0. 524,) and Physical Attractiveness of the Partner (rs = 0. 519). Moderate correlations were found between PLS and Admiration (rs = 0.482), Relationship Satisfaction (rs = 0.39), Touch (rs = 0.386), Low Boredom (rs = 0.379,), Inspiration (rs = 0.375,), Partner’s Scent (rs = 0.35), Authenticity (rs = 0.348,), Sexual Satisfaction (rs = 0.333) and Laughing together (rs = 0.324). As expected Length of Relationship correlated negatively with PLS (rs = - 0.175). We also discovered that 47.8 per cent of variance of the PLS may explained by independent variables: Pleasure, Sexual Attraction, Jealousy, Relationship Happiness and Relationship Satisfaction (p= 0.034). Multiple regression analysis revealed that Relationship Happiness, Relationship Satisfaction and Pleasure are the strongest predictors for Passionate love, coefficients showed medium correlations.
... In adulthood, touch can express emotion (Hertenstein et al., 2009); enhance felt security (Jakubiak & Feeney, 2016), intimacy, positive affect (Debrot et al., 2013), and relationship quality (Bell et al., 1987;Floyd et al., 2009;Gulledge et al., 2003;Hill, 2009); facilitate physiological function (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2008); and buffer negative mood (Burleson, Trevathan, & Todd, 2007;Debrot et al., 2014) and stress. For example, warm contact mitigated cardiovascular reactivity to a stress induction (Grewen et al., 2003), fended off the common cold (Cohen et al., 2015), and buffered neural reactivity to the threat of electric shock (Coan et al., 2017). ...
Affectionate touch is crucial to the development of attachment security in infancy, yet little is known about how attachment and touch are related in adulthood. For adults high in anxiety, touch provision can maintain proximity, and received touch can signal reassurance of a partner’s affections that relatively anxious people desperately desire. Adults high in avoidance likely view touch as a threat to independence, should be less inclined to provide touch, and may perceive received touch as intrusive. In two studies, we demonstrated that attachment anxiety was associated with positive feelings about touch but unrelated to daily touch provision. However, the benefits associated with daily received touch were amplified among people higher in anxiety. Conversely, attachment avoidance was associated with negative feelings about touch, and reductions in daily touch provision, but did not moderate the benefits associated with received touch.
... Prevention or interruption of such escalation is important. Touch was found to be associated with easier conflict resolution in an observational study (Gulledge, Gulledge, & Stahmann 2003), whereas one experimental study demonstrated that touch enhanced communication behavior during a conflict discussion (Jakubiak & Feeney, 2019). Touch may exert its positive effect on communication through several pathways. ...
Improved conflict handling is important to reduce relational discord. Touch potentially has beneficial effects on three important characteristics of conflict discussions, i.e., physiological reactivity, affect and communication behavior. We studied effects of hand-holding between partners during conflict discussions (N = 47 student couples) and after conflict discussions (N = 53 student and N = 45 clinical couples). During conflict discussions hand-holding caused lower heart rate reactivity, higher positive affect and improved communication in men, and in women lower positive affect but improved communication. After conflict discussions hand-holding resulted in lower heart rate reactivity and higher heart rate variability in student couples and higher positive affect in student and clinical couples. Touch seems a promising add-on intervention in couple therapy.
... A positive effect of hugs includes increased oxytocin [21], which decreases stress [22]. These positive effects naturally emerge in the real world; [23] show that experiencing difficulty in resolving conflicts within a couple is negatively correlated with the level of physical affection, and the number of physical interactions are positively associated with increased satisfaction. Similarly, marital or cohabiting romantic couples experiencing a high frequency of romantic kissing report increased relationship satisfaction and lower levels of stress [24]. ...
People in romantic relationships often benefit from improved mental and physical health and well-being. Today, these relationships can be recreated using virtual agents. For instance, some people anthropomorphize and fall in love with a virtual partner in a romantic video game. Although previous psychological research has examined anthropomorphized agents, it has neglected virtual romantic relationships. This study aims to examine the desire to play underlying playing romantic video games (RVGs). In Study 1, 43 Japanese participants completed a survey about their desire to play RVGs and their current romantic relationship status. The research revealed that a human-like voice and the use of touch were perceived as important factors in anthropomorphized relationships. In Study 2, an independent sample of 281 Japanese participants replicated the results of Study 1 regarding the importance of voice and touch in RVGs. Moreover, we found that a desire to develop social skills and alleviate negative emotions independently desire to play RVG use. As an important first step, these findings reveal several factors which might contribute to developing a romantic relationship with a virtual agent.
This chapter “Models of passionate and affectionate love” describes these two models comprehensively, in a consolidated way. Basic components of passionate model are considered in cross-cultural perspective, demonstrating its ubiquitous nature and cultural variety. The chapter also highlights affectionate and muted models of love, which are less visible in modern scholarship, yet widely present in the older centuries and in many modern societies.KeywordsConcept of passionPassion of loveFunctions of passionConcept of affectionAffection of loveUbiquitous passion of love across culturesPassionate love as a cultural ideaAffectionate love as a cultural ideaPassion as a cultural ideaPassion as an experienceExpression of passionExpressive passionMuted passion
Resilience is the process by which individuals adapt successfully to acute or chronic challenge and adversity (see Preface, this volume). Initially studied in developmental contexts, it is now a focus in adult psychology, where it vies with risk-based models to explain behavior and health-related outcomes. Resilience researchers ask “Why are most people able to overcome trauma or misfortune, even to thrive in their wake, whereas others are critically damaged by these experiences?” Some answers to this question suggest a powerful resiliencepromoting role for interpersonal relationships and social connection (Cacioppo, Reis, & Zautra, 2011). As noted by Berkman and colleagues, relationships influence well-being by providing opportunities for social integration and engagement, giving and receiving social support, influencing and being influenced by others, experiencing positive and negative social interactions, and feeling companionship or loneliness (Berkman, Glass, Brissette, & Seeman, 2000). Relationships also provide opportunities for interpersonal touch, particularly physical affection.
Despite the importance of touch in human–human relations, research in affective tactile practices is in its infancy, lacking in-depth understanding needed to inform the design of remote digital touch communication. This article reports two qualitative studies that explore tactile affective communication in specific social contexts, and the bi-directional creation, sending and interpretation of digital touch messages using a purpose-built research tool, the Tactile Emoticon. The system comprises a pair of remotely connected mitts, which enable users in different locations to communicate through tactile messages, by orchestrating duration and level of three haptic sensations: vibration, pressure and temperature. Qualitative analysis shows the nuanced ways in which 68 participants configured these elements to make meaning from touch messages they sent and received. It points to the affect and emotion of touch, its sensoriality and ambiguity, the significance of context, social norms and expectations of touch participants. Findings suggest key design considerations for digital touch communication, where the emphasis shifts from generating ‘recognizable touches’ to tools that allow people to shape their touches and establish common understanding about their meaning.
Past research has shown consistent benefits associated with and resulting from affectionate touch, though past research is based almost exclusively on highly satisfied and otherwise non-representative samples. The current research used two nationally representative samples to test correlates (Study 1) and anticipated consequences (Study 2) of affectionate touch in romantic relationships. In Study 1, greater kissing frequency was associated with greater individual well-being, and these links were especially pronounced in the most satisfying relationships. In Study 2, participants who were randomly assigned to imagine receiving affectionate touch from their spouse anticipated greater individual well-being (less stress and greater life satisfaction) and relational benefits (greater perceived partner affection, state security, cognitive interdependence, and relationship quality). These benefits were stronger among people with moderate or high relationship satisfaction but observed even for the subset of individuals (approximately one-third of the sample) who rated their relationships as “distressed.” Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Nostalgia is an emotion that confers psychological benefits. The literature has neglected romantic nostalgia—that is, nostalgia specifically for past experiences shared with one’s partner—and its potential advantages for relationships. We examined romantic nostalgia in one correlational study, two experiments, and one daily diary study (N = 638). Romantic nostalgia was positively associated with greater relationship commitment, satisfaction, and closeness (Study 1). Additionally, inducing romantic nostalgia via a writing task (Study 2) or music (Study 3) strengthened relational benefits. Finally, participants reported more positive relationship-specific experiences on days when they felt greater romantic nostalgia (Study 4). We discuss contributions to the nostalgia and relationships literatures.
This study sought to explore whether relationship satisfaction moderated the relationship between affection and individual health (i.e., depression and stress) and affection and relational well-being (i.e., trust and closeness). The sample (N = 631) was comprised of predominantly female non-married Southwestern college students. Relationship satisfaction did not interact with the relationship between affection and trust, affection and closeness, and affection and depression. However, relationship satisfaction moderated the relationship between affection and stress such that affection was significantly and negative related to stress only for highly satisfied relationships. Dissatisfied participants were affectionately deprived, and their frequency of affectionate behaviors varied. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Communication is an important component of many healthy sexual and romantic relationships. Positive communication strategies including expressing fondness and affection, exchanging compliments, and disclosing information about oneself with a partner are associated with relationship and sexual satisfaction, but less is known about its association to sexual desire. Most of the current literature has used traditional statistical analyses that assume errors are normally distributed and that associations between variables are linear. Our study aimed to examine the ways daily levels of four positive communication strategies are associated with relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and sexual desire among 246 mixed sex couples (N = 492). We also compared traditional hierarchical linear modeling with machine learning to compare results from the different data analytic techniques. Findings indicated that daily positive communication received from a partner was associated with all outcome variables of interest that day for both partners in the couple. All positive communication strategies predicted daily levels of desire, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction for the individual and each had unique associations with partner outcomes. Unique nonlinear interactions were found using machine learning. Findings have implications for practitioners and provide insight into the differences in findings between traditional analyses and machine learning.
Mindfulness appears to be one of the important predictors of relationship satisfaction. The degree of mindfulness displayed by a partner when involved in romantic relationship is known as relationship mindfulness. When it comes to the romantic relationship, researchers need to look at the specific type of mindfulness designed for the field of romantic relationships. Therefore, the present study seeks to show whether relationship mindfulness can predict relationship satisfaction directly. Moreover, there is a difference in mindfulness between males and females in the romantic relationship and how the relationship mindfulness can predict relationship satisfaction in this situation. In the present study, a multistage cluster sampling method was adopted to select participants from among the study population (n=386 individual). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and MANOVA was used for data analysis. Based on the results of the present study, relationship mindfulness predicted relationship satisfaction directly and significantly (p < 0.05). Further, the level of mindfulness in romantic relationship was higher for females in the present study. In addition, gratitude has been shown to be an appropriate mediator for the association between relationship mindfulness and relationship satisfaction.
Touch is an irreplaceable contributor to our everyday social life. Interpersonal touch is mediated by a variety of nerve fibers, with Abeta and C-tactile fibers being the most pronounced ones. Slow stroking touch, which targets C-tactile fibers, is experienced as a pleasant sensation and is processed in brain areas, which are involved in reward and social processing.
In preterm babies, gentle interpersonal touch fosters the development, and in both preterm and full-term babies, such touch has calming effects by signaling safety. Touch fosters the development of the social brain in infanthood, and children start to orient their touch behavior toward peers. In adolescence, touch is often targeted toward peers and signals not only the belonging to a group, but also intimate relationships. The importance of tactile interactions for the upbringing and health of children is shown in reverse: Touch deprivation and social deprivation in early childhood lead to irreversible consequences for the emotional, social, and cognitive development of the child with a potential transmission into subsequent generations.
For those who are in a same-gender relationship, there is likely a negative association between experiences of minority stress and willingness to engage in public displays of affection (PDA). One’s willingness to engage in PDA when experiencing sexual minority stress may, however, depend on perceived relationship commitment with one’s partner; wherein people who are more committed may be more willing to engage in PDA. Data from 95 same-gender couples were used to examine the association between minority stress and PDA behaviors, and possible moderating effects of relationship commitment. Results showed minority stress was negatively associated with PDA behaviors for those who reported low commitment, but not high commitment. Implications and future directions are presented.
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.
Affectionate touch is an important behavior in close relationships throughout the lifespan. Research has investigated the relational and individual psychological and physical benefits of affectionate touch, but the situational factors that give rise to it have been overlooked. Theorizing from the interpersonal process model of intimacy, the current studies tested whether perceived partner responsiveness forecasts affectionate touch in romantic couples. Following a preliminary integrative data analysis ( N = 842), three prospective studies use ecologically valid behavioral (Studies 1 and 2) and daily (Studies 2 and 3) data, showing a positive association between perceived partner responsiveness and affectionate touch. Furthermore, in Study 3, we tested a theoretical extension of the interpersonal process of intimacy, finding that affectionate touch forecasts the partner’s perception of the touch-giver’s responsiveness the next day. Findings suggest affectionate touch may be an untested mechanism at the heart of the interpersonal process of intimacy.
This chapter explores what love is, how it is related to intimacy, various definitions of both concepts, love in ancient times, the universality of love, the functions that love serves, romantic passion, and the relation of sexual satisfaction and love.
Although giving and receiving affection are beneficial, the benefits often depend on who is providing the affection and in what context. Some affectionate expressions may even reduce well-being. This mixed-method study examined perceptions of unwanted affection and its relationship to stress and anxiety. Participants described a memory of unwanted affection and their reactions to it. Additionally, participants reported on their stress, somatic anxiety, and cognitive anxiety. Thematic analyses revealed that expressions of unwanted affection ranged in verbal (e.g., disclosure rate, saying “I love you”) or nonverbal (e.g., hugs, handholding) behaviors and participants responded by explicit rejecting the affection, reduced/stopped contact with the person, and ignoring the affection. Feelings reflecting the perceived negativity of the event were related to higher stress, somatic, and cognitive anxiety. Generally, results indicated that retrospective cognitive anxiety and stress were worse when experiencing unwanted affection from well-known partners (e.g., romantic partners) than from strangers. Conversely, the perceived negativity of the recalled unwanted affectionate event tended to worsen with lesser known partners (e.g., strangers, acquaintances).
This study investigated whether physical affection is causally associated with momentary intimacy and security by manipulating physical affection. We used a GPS-based smart-phone application as ecological momentary intervention that prompted participants to show physical affection to their partner when they were in the same location. We also investigated whether attachment style and attachment functioning moderated the effects of the manipulation. Thirty-nine couples were assigned to experimental (N ¼ 20) and control (N ¼ 19) groups for 2 weeks. Multilevel dyadic data analysis revealed significantly higher momentary intimacy in the experimental group, even when spontaneous physical affection was controlled; there was no significant change for momentary security. While attachment style did not moderate the effect of manipulation for either outcome, attachment functioning significantly moderated the effect on security. This is the first study to show evidence that physical affection, when instructed by a device, is causally linked to increased momentary intimacy in daily life.
This study examined three sets of psychosocial variables (love styles, perceived social support, and social and emotional loneliness) as predictors of satisfaction with love life among 357 college students from Madeira (57% females). The participants completed four scales, including the Love Attitudes Scale (LAS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Support (MSPSS), the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA-S), and the Satisfaction with Love Life Scale (SWLLS). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensionality of the SWLLS among college students in Madeira region. Overall, satisfaction with love life was significantly predicted by indicators of love styles, perceived social support, and social and emotional loneliness, accounting respectively for 51%, 28%, and 60% of the variance being explained. The study provided additional evidence of the importance of love styles, social support and loneliness in satisfaction with love life.
This research focused on the meaning of psychological intimacy to partners in heterosexual and same-gender relationships that have lasted for an average of 30 years. In-depth interviews were used to explore the meaning of intimacy to 216 partners in 108 relationships. The participants were whites, blacks, and Mexican-Americans, with Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant religious backgrounds; they were employed in both blue- and white collar occupations.
Psychological intimacy was defined as the sense that one could be open and honest in talking with a partner about personal thoughts and feelings not usually expressed in other relationships. Factors that had a significant role in shaping the quality of psychological intimacy in the last 5 to 10 years of these relationships (recent years) were the absence of major conflict, a confrontive conflict management style between partners, a sense of fairness about the relationship, and the expression of physical affection between partners. Women in same-gender relationships, compared to their heterosexual and gay counterparts, were more likely to report that psychologically intimate communication characterized their relationships. The findings are important for understanding factors that contribute to psychological intimacy in long-term relationships and how the gender roles of partners may shape the quality of psychological intimacy in heterosexual and same-gender relationships.
This article presents a construct validation of a love scale based upon a triangular theory of love. The article opens with a review of some of the major theories of love, and with a discussion of some of the major issues in love research. Next it briefly reviews selected elements of the triangular theory of love, according to which love can be understood as comprising three components—intimacy, passion, and decision/ commitment. Then the article presents two studies constituting the construct validation of the love scale. The construct validation comprises aspects of internal validation—determination of whether the internal structure of the data is consistent with the theory—and external validation—determination of whether the scale based on the theory shows sensible patterns of correlations with external measures. The data are generally, but not completely supportive of the utility of the triangular love scale.
The following hypotheses regarding interpersonal resource exchange among (a) dating couples ( n = 206 couples) and (b) engaged/married couples ( n = 103 couples) were tested: (1) levels of affectionate behavior are reciprocated (i.e. paths are bidirectional) among couples; (2) levels of respectful behavior are reciprocated among couples; (3) individuals' reported affectionate and respectful behaviors are correlated positively; (4) individuals' affection-giving traits are better as positive predictors of individuals' affectionate behavior among engaged/married couples than among dating couples; (5) individuals' respect-giving traits are better as positive predictors of individuals' respectful behavior among engaged/married couples than among dating couples; (6) individuals' gender-role compliance is better as a negative predictor of individuals' affectionate behavior among dating couples than among engaged/married couples; and (7) individuals' gender-role compliance is better as a negative predictor of individuals' respectful behavior among dating couples than among engaged/married couples. Individuals' interpersonal traits and gender-role compliance were self-reported, whereas individuals' interpersonal behaviors were reported by their partners. Results supported Hypotheses 1-3 (derived from resource exchange theory proposed by Foa & Foa, 1974) but not Hypotheses 4-7 (derived from the model of levels of relational involvement proposed by Levinger & Snoek, 1972). Unexpectedly, affection-giving traits generally were positive predictors of affectionate and respectful behavior, whereas respect-giving traits generally did not predict affectionate or respectful behavior. Implications for the study of interpersonal traits, gender roles and behavioral reciprocity in heterosexual relationships are discussed.
The purpose of this homework activity is to introduce the importance of extensive touching, hugging, holding, huddling, and cuddling (3HC) in intimate (committed, close, and prolonged) relationships. It seems that 3HC are so important in showing and sharing affection that they should receive more attention than they have received heretofore from the couple and family therapy community.
Presents a triangular theory of love, which deals both with the nature of love and with loves in different kinds of relationships. It is suggested that there are 3 components: (a) intimacy encompassing the feelings of closeness, connectedness, and bondedness experienced in loving relationships; (b) passion encompassing the drives that lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation; and (c) decision/commitment encompassing, in the short term, the decision that one loves another, and in the long term, the commitment to maintain that love. The amount of love one experiences depends on the absolute strength of the 3 components, and the kind of love one experiences depends on their strengths relative to each other. The components interact with each other and with the actions that they produce and that produce them so as to form a number of different kinds of loving experiences. The triangular theory of love subsumes other theories and can account for a number of empirical findings in the research literature, as well as for a number of experiences with which many are familiar firsthand. It is proposed that the triangular theory provides a comprehensive basis for understanding many aspects of the love that underlies close relationships. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Are friends as good as lovers? Attachment, physical affection, and effects on cardiovascular arousal in young women's closest relationships (Doctoral dissertation, 2000)
- L M Diamond
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