Tactile communication

Richard Heslin ^[1] identifies 5 categories of touch:

Functional / Professional

• expresses intention

Social / polite

• used in ritual communication

Friendly / warm

• expresses a specific attitude

Love / Intimacy

• expresses emotional affection

Sexual / arousal

• expresses sexual intention

The intention to touch does not always fall under any particular category and may relate to each of the categories in the Richard Heslin classification.

Functional / Professional Touch

Managers should be aware of the effectiveness of using touches when interacting with their subordinates, but be careful and understand that touch can be misunderstood. A hand on the shoulder for one person can mean a gesture of support, and for another - a gesture of a sexual nature. In the process of working with other people, using touch as a means of communication, the leader needs to know how each person relates to touch. Henley in his study (1977) found that a person with authority is more likely to touch subordinates, while a subordinate does not feel the ability to touch a leader. Touch is a powerful tool for non-verbal communication . According to Borisoff and Victor ^[2] , such different standards between managers and subordinates can lead to misunderstandings about whether touching is an intention to influence a person or is intimate.

Walton ^[3] noted in his book that touch emphasizes the importance of the message sent by the sender. Touch is the ultimate expression of intimacy or trust between two people, but not often seen in a business or formal relationship .

Social / polite touch

The moment of transition from one category of tactile feeling to another can be vague due to the characteristics of the culture. For example, there are many places in the USA where touching the forearm is considered socially correct and polite. However, in the Midwest this type of communication is not always acceptable. The very first contact with a person in the business sphere usually begins with a touch, namely with a handshake . The way a person shakes hands can say a lot about him and his personality. Jones reveals the essence of tactile communication as the closest and most involved form of communication that helps people maintain good relationships with each other. Jones, together with Yarbrough ^[4], investigated the frequency of touch and touch that occurs between individuals. The frequency of touch can be divided into two different types, namely, repeating and strategic. Repeated touches are a kind of touch when one person touches and the second responds with the same gesture. Most of these touches are considered positive. Strategic touches are a series of touches, usually with a hidden motive, used to make a person do what another needs. Usually repeated touches are personal or single touches. They should be interpreted in the context of what was said, and due to a set of social circumstances at the time of touching the person. “Civil inattention" ^[5] is defined as a polite way of maintaining interaction with strangers, without involvement in interpersonal relationships and without the need to respond to the stranger's touch. Goffman presents an “elevator” study to explain this phenomenon: it’s unusual for people to watch, talk or touch a person standing nearby. But in the case when the room in the elevator is so crowded that people "touch" each other, they retain their indifference in order not to have an impact on the people around them.

Friendly / warm touch

In a friendly environment, touch is more common for women than for men. Whitcher and Fisher conducted a study to find out if both sexes had psychotherapeutic touches in order to reduce anxiety. Nurses were instructed to touch their patients for a minute, while patients studied the brochure during a routine preoperative procedure. Women took it positively, while men did not. It has been suggested that men equate touches to the fact that they are treated as subordinates or dependent. Touching among family members, as it turned out, affects their behavior. There are many factors involved in family relationships. Often, as the child grows, the number of parental touches decreases.

Touch of Love

The primary non-verbal mode of communication that has the greatest effect on interpersonal relationships is touch. The amount of touch increases when an impersonal relationship becomes personal. Touch in society can serve as a “signal of affection” (when a couple holds hands, hugs), which shows the personal nature of the relationship. The use of "signals of affection" occurs more often at the stage of dating and courtship than married couples, according to Burgun, Buler and Woodal ^[6] .

Violence

Touching intimate relationships can be violent at times. McEwan and Johnson divided violent touch into two categories: intimate terrorism and couple violence. Intimate terrorism is characterized as a need for control and dominance in relationships, which over time is gaining frequency and escalating. Conventional violence in couples, on the other hand, is often the result of petty conflict. Such violence is less common and less severe, not gaining momentum over time. There are two main differences between intimate terrorism and couple violence. Ordinary couple violence happens from time to time and does not escalate over time. One study conducted by Geiser in 1990 provided additional evidence that in fact men are more likely to be nonverbal aggression and violence.

Sexual / arousal

According to Givens (1999 study), the process of non-verbal communication and negotiation involves sending and receiving messages in an attempt to gain someone's approval or love. Courtship, which can give rise to love, is defined as a non-verbal message aimed at attracting a sexual partner. During courtship, we exchange gestures of non-verbal communication to tell each other that we need to get closer. The main signals on the way to intimacy are kisses and affection.

The courtship period can be divided into 5 stages, which include the attention phase, the closer phase of acquaintance, the phase of communication, the phase of touching and the phase of making love. Tactile feelings are manifested in the last two phases. Touch phase. The first touch can usually be "accidental" than deliberate, made by touching the neutral part of the body. In this phase, the recipient either accepts the touch or rejects it with the movement of the body. Hugs are a standard way for a person to tell someone that he loves him and possibly also needs him. Intention to touch: a tactile code or a hint of non-verbal communication is a hidden intention. Kisses are the final stage of the fourth phase of courtship. The last phase is making love, which involves tactile stimulation, known as light or protopathic touches. Any sense of fear or anxiety can be mitigated by other touches such as kisses or massages.

A study of touches conducted in 1985 by Johnson and Yarborough revealed 18 different meanings of touches, which are grouped into 7 types: having a positive (emotional) impact, games, control, ritual, mixed, with a specific purpose and random.

Positive Touch

These touches convey positive emotions and occur mainly between people who are in close relationships. These touches can be further classified, being subdivided into touches of support, approval, affiliation, attraction or affection.

Touching support : serve to show concern, comfort, protect a person. These touches are usually appropriate in situations when a person is in a state of anxiety.

Touch of approval : expresses gratitude .

Touching affiliation : pay attention to the fact that any activity is carried out jointly, suggest psychological proximity.

Sexual touch : expresses physical attractiveness or sexual attraction .

Touch of attachment : express a general positive attitude of a person, but more than a simple recognition.

Game Touch

These touches serve to soften communication. “Touching the game” conveys a double message, as it always implies a signal of the game, both verbal and non-verbal, which indicates that the behavior should not be taken seriously. These touches can also be divided into impacting and aggressive.

Effective : serves to soften communication. The severity of a positive message is neutralized by a playful signal.

Aggressive effects : like those acting, these touches are used to alleviate tension in communication, but a playful signal indicates aggression . These touches come from only one side, not both.

Controlling Touch

These touches are necessary in order to direct the behavior, attitude or state of the recipient in the right direction. The main feature of these touches is that almost all of them come from a person who is trying to make an impact. These touches can also be divided into compliant, attention-grabbing and reaction-provoking ones.

Compliant : attempts to direct the behavior of another person in the right direction and, as a rule, by influencing the attitude or feelings of another person.

Attracting attention : needed to redirect the focus of the recipient's perception to something.

Reaction-provoking : used to attract attention, to indirectly request another's reaction.

Ritual Touch

This group includes touching when greeting and saying goodbye. They help make the transition to and from focused communication.

Random Touch

These touches are perceived as unintentional and do not carry any meaning. They mainly consist of light touches.

High culture is common in eastern countries. Middle Eastern, Asian, African and South American cultures are examples of high culture. Traditions play a significant role, take root and hardly change over time. Representatives of this type of culture know exactly when it is possible to use tactile communication, based on a strict non-verbal law that everyone uses. According to the results of research, in some types of culture, touch is quite common (contact culture), and in others it may be absent (distant culture). Low-contact cultures include North Americans, Asians, and Northern Europeans. Representatives of these cultures during communication are at a certain distance from each other, and Asians use a greater distance than North Americans and North Europeans. Contact cultures include Latin American, South European cultures.

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