Secret language of touch

We learn touch language much earlier than verbal language. After all, it is through touch – through hugs and kisses, feeding and rocking – that we begin to know the world.

Our primary tactile sensations are associated with the mother’s body, with a feeling of satiety, peace and pleasure. No wonder touch plays a huge role in our lives.

It becomes easier for a restless person if he touches someone or takes his hand. Before a painful medical procedure, anxiety can be reduced by lightly touching the patient’s forehead or shoulder. Touching a person’s elbow or forearm encourages trust and cooperation, reduces the sense of danger and relaxes.

And in some situations, for example, at the moment of a responsible choice, it is useful to remember this. We collected the results of studies from different years and found out that touch …

1. Make us more generous

In one experiment, shop assistants approached customers to try a new type of snack, while some were lightly touched on the arm above the elbow. This touch made the difference: customers were more willing to try the sample and even buy the product.

Another study by psychologists at the University of Mississippi found that waitresses who briefly touched a customer’s hand or shoulder received larger tips. It is curious that this touch did not affect the client’s opinion about the waitress or the atmosphere of the restaurant, that is, the visitor himself did not notice the connection between the touch and his actions.¹.

2. Inclined to take risks

A light pat on the back is enough to make us more willing to take on financial risk, as American marketers Jonathan Levave and Jennifer Argo found out. They offered the subjects to take part in economic games.

Before the game, the researchers (male or female) tried to cheer up the volunteers by touching their arm, shoulder, or back in a friendly way. As a result, those subjects who were touched by a woman were more likely to take risks.

However, it’s not about sexual connotations: scientists have concluded that in a female touch, a man unconsciously feels “motherly protection” – and more confidently goes in search of adventure, even if it’s a banal game with a small win.².

3. Awaken altruism

French psychologist Nicolas Gueguin demonstrated how much more sympathetic we become to a person after light physical contact with him.

At a bus stop in an ordinary French city, a stranger asked the locals for directions, and then thanked them, and in half the cases he touched their forearms. Stepping aside, he “accidentally” spilled the things he usually kept in the bag. Those he touched rushed to help him a third more often: 90% vs. 63%³.

4. Make us more accommodating

In a study by psychologists Frank Willis and Helen Hamm, participants were asked to sign a petition. It was agreed to be signed by 55% of those whom the organizers did not touch, and 81% of those participants with whom tactile contact took place.

In a second experiment where volunteers were asked to fill out a questionnaire, touch increased compliance rates from 40 percent to 70 percent!

Moreover, 30 years later, scientists found that two touches are even more effective than one: people who were touched twice were more likely to fill out a questionnaire than those who were touched once. Again, the effect of the double touch was stronger when the female researcher touched the male.⁴.

5. Cause aggression

And yet, not in all cultures, other people’s touches have such a magical effect. In an experiment conducted by Polish psychologist Darius Dolinski, men reacted very negatively to a request for a favor if they were touched by a man.

According to the scientist, this is due to the high level of homophobia, which is typical for the cultures of Eastern Europe. At least they responded positively to the request of the woman⁵.

6. They promise a date

It is unlikely that you will be surprised by the fact that a man is more likely to show interest in the woman who, during a conversation or passing by, touched him, but in any case, there is scientific confirmation of this.

In 2010, the same Nicolas Gueguin found out that men easily mistake a light non-sexual touch for sexual interest. In another study, women were more likely to respond to a request from a man on the street for his phone number if he lightly touched their arm.⁶.

7. Point to power

Perhaps women were more willing to give men their phone number also because we unconsciously associate a light touch with dominance.

Nancy Henley, a psychology professor and specialist in non-verbal communication, observed how employees of different companies in a large American city communicate with each other. She noticed that people who touched others more often tended to have higher status and more power.⁷.

¹ J. Hornik «Tactile stimulation and consumer response». Journal of Consumer Research, 1992, №19(3); A. H. Crusco & C. G. Wetzel «The Midas touch: The effects of interpersonal touch on restaurant tipping», Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1984, №10(4).

² J. Levav & J. J. Argo «Physical contact and financial risk taking», Psychological Science, 2010, vol, 21, №6.

³ N.Gueguen, J. Fischer-Lokou «Tactile contact and spontaneous help: an evaluation in a natural setting», The Journal of Social Psychology, 2003, №143.

⁴ F. N. Willis Jr., H. K. Hamm «The use of interpersonal touch in securing compliance», Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1980, vol. 5, №1; D. Vaidis, S. Halimi-Falkowicz «Increasing compliance with a request: two touches are more effective than one», Psychological Reports, 2008, №103.

⁵ D. Dolinski «Touch, Compliance, and Homophobia», Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 2010, vol. 34, №3.

⁶ N. Gueguen «The effect of a woman’s incidental tactile contact on men’s later behavior», Social Behavior and Personality, 2010, vol. 38, № 2; «Courtship compliance: The effect of touch on women’s behavior», Social Influence, 2007, vol. 2, №2.

⁷ N. M. Henley «Status and sex: Some touching observations». Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1973, vol. 2, №2.