Tactile communication is communication expressed through a sense of touch, through which humans and animals interact. Besides the fact that, using this type of communication, you can learn about the texture and nature of the object, tactile communication is also a component of interpersonal relationships , non-verbal and non-visual. Touch is very important for people and is necessary for the expression of physical intimacy.
Touch (that is, touch) can be divided into several categories: positive, playful, ritual, intentional or unintentional. It can be both sexual in nature (in some cases a kiss ) and platonic (for example, hugs or tickles ). Touch is the very first feeling that arises in the fetus. The development of the infant's sense of touch and how it relates to the development of other senses, such as vision , is being actively studied. It was found that babies are very difficult to survive if they do not have a sense of touch, even while maintaining vision and hearing. Children who can communicate through touch have a tendency to live better. The sense of touch is well developed in chimpanzees. At birth, they have poor eyesight and hearing, but they easily climb onto their mother. Harry Frederick Harlow conducted a discussion study on rhesus monkeys and found that they are raised with the help of the so-called "mother's terry skin", which provides quite a tactile stimulation and comfort. Females without dense skins are less likely to raise their children emotionally stable [1] . Touch is perceived differently in different countries. In one country, they may be socially acceptable, in another not. In Thai culture, touching one's head can be taken roughly. Ramland and Jones (1995) studied human communication and found that in England (8%), France (5%) and the Netherlands (4%), touch is rarely compared with Italian (14%) and Greek (12.5%) patterns [2] . Kicking, pushing, twitching, tweaking, kicking , strangulation and hand - fighting are types of touch in the context of physical violence. In the phrases “I never touched her / him” or “dare not touch her / him”, the term “touch” can be a euphemism for physical or sexual violence. “Touching yourself” is a euphemism for masturbation . The word touch has many other metaphorical meanings. You can be emotionally moved, which refers to the emotional impact. The phrase “I was touched by your letter” evokes strong reader emotions while reading. Usually they do not include anger , disgust, or other forms of emotional rejection until the phrase is used in the form of sarcasm .
Content
- 1 Categories of tactile communication
- 1.1 Functional / Professional
- 1.2 Social / Cultural
- 1.3 Friendship / warm relationship
- 1.4 Love / Sex
- 1.5 Sexual / Arousal
- 1.6 Functional / Professional
- 1.7 Social / Cultural
- 1.8 Friendship / warm relationship
- 1.9 Love / Intimacy
- 1.10 Violence
- 1.11 Sexual / Arousal
- 2 Touch Values
- 2.1 Touch with a positive affect
- 2.2 Playful touches
- 2.3 Controlled touch
- 2.4 Ritual touches
- 2.5 Hybrid Touch
- 2.6 Accidental touches
- 3 notes
Tactile Communication Categories
Haslin identifies five categories of touch: [3]
Functional / Professional
Task oriented
Social / Cultural
Expresses a ritual interaction
Friendship / warm relationship
Expresses a unique relationship
Love / sex
Expresses emotional affection
Sexual / Arousal
Expresses sexual intention
The intention to touch is not always exceptional and may include each category.
Functional / Professional
Managers must understand the effectiveness of touch when communicating with subordinates, but they must be careful, because touch can be misunderstood. A hand on a shoulder can mean support for one person, and for another - flirting. The manager should be aware when working with staff that the attitude of employees to touch can be different. Hanley revealed that a person with power would more likely touch a subordinate than vice versa. Touch is a very powerful tool for non-verbal communication, and such a distinction between subordinates and superiors can lead to a misunderstanding of whether touch was motivated by dominance or intimacy. Welton [4] argued in his book that touch is the ultimate expression of intimacy between two people, while not explicitly expressed in business and formal relationships. Touch emphasizes the importance of the initiator message. Welton wrote that "if praise is accompanied by a touch on the shoulder, then this is an absolute success."
Social / Cultural
Moving from one category to another can be vague due to culture . In many states in the USA, touching the forearm is perceived correctly and politely. However, in the Midwest this is not always considered acceptable. The initial connection with another person at a professional level usually begins with a specific gesture - a handshake . It can say a lot about a person. Ciarella (2006) wrote an article for Esquire magazine explaining to a male reader how a handshake varies from person to person and what non-verbal message it carries. He mentioned that if the duration of the handshake is longer than 2 seconds, then verbal communication will pause and be replaced by non-verbal communication.
Jones explained tactile communication as the most intimate and powerful form of communication that helps people maintain good relationships with others. [5] Sequential touches are divided into two types: repetitive and strategic. Repeated touches are when one person touches and the other reciprocates. Most of these gestures are considered positive. A strategic touch is a series of touches, usually with a hidden motive, to get someone to do something necessary.
More popular than sequential touches are individual or single touches. They should be evaluated, not excluding the context, the relationship between the subjects and the situation when touched. Yarbro has developed a detailed touch plan. She revealed various areas of the body, depending on how “touchable” they are. The invulnerable parts of the body are the arms, hands, shoulders and upper back. The remaining zones are vulnerable. Inattention in a public place is a polite way of interacting with strangers without involvement in any interpersonal relationships and without the need for an answer to someone's touch. Hoffman uses the study of the behavior of people in an elevator to explain this phenomenon. [6] People rarely look at each other, talk or touch a person nearby. When the room is very crowded, people often do not respond to touch, so as not to confuse others.
Friendship / warm relationship
Friendly touches are more acceptable in female circles than in male ones, possibly due to the inherent dominance of a person who touches a person who is touched. Witcher and Fisher conducted a study to find out if therapeutic touch is different by gender to reduce anxiety . [7] Honey. The nurse was instructed to touch the patients for a minute while the patients read the brochure and underwent a preoperative procedure. Unlike men, women reacted positively. It has been suggested that men equated touch with submission or dependence. It has been found that touching among family members can affect their behavior. In this case, various factors are affected. As the child grows up, the number of touches of the parents decreases. Boys distance themselves from touch at an earlier age than girls. A child and a parent of the same sex touch each other more than a child and a parent of different sexes. A study of non-verbal communication between men in a bar revealed that women like to touch men, but they are more intriguing when men touch them. A man who touches others has a higher status in society than a man who does not. It has been proven that women are more sensitive to men who require a lot of social space, and that when a woman comes to the bar, men move their glasses away, signaling a willingness to communicate.
Love / Intimacy
Touch with a positive effect
Touch is the initial non-verbal behavior that greatly affects interpersonal relationships . The number of touches increases as the relationship flows from impersonal to personal. The public touches of the couples were studied. A public touch can be a signal that the partner is “captured”. [8] When a couple holds hands, hugs each other, this is a signal demonstrating that the couple are together. According to Bargun, Buller and Woodell, the use of such signals occurs more often on dates or during courtship in the early stages than during marriage. The study also showed the difference between the sexes, depending on who touches each other and how. At the beginning of a relationship, men often correspond to an established gender role . Patterson mentioned that, in fulfilling this role, men in the early stages more often touch women, who, in turn, touch men more after the beginning of an intimate relationship or after marriage . [9] American culture still dictates the rule that a man takes the first step in a relationship. Touching among married couples can help maintain good health. Thus, a study by Jim Coan, a psychologist at the University of Virginia, showed that women instantly calm down when they simply hold the hand of their husband. However, this is only effective if the woman is satisfied with the marriage.
Violence
Touching in an intimate relationship can sometimes be cruel. McEwan and Johnson categorized violent touch in a relationship into two categories: intimate terrorism and widespread couple violence. [10] Intimate terrorism is characterized by the need to have control over relationships or to dominate, which begins to escalate over time and repeat itself. Widespread violence in couples, on the other hand, is often the result of minor conflict. Such violence is less common and less severe, and does not increase in scope over time. There are two key differences between intimate terrorism and widespread couple violence. The latter happens at some points and does not worsen over time. One study conducted by Geiser in 1999 provided evidence for this fact and reported that men were more likely to be involved in non-verbal aggression and violence.
Sexual / Arousal
According to Givens (1999), the process of non-verbal communication or negotiation consists in transmitting and receiving a message in order to obtain someone's approval or love. Courtship, which can lead to love, is characterized as a non-verbal message whose purpose is to attract sex partners. During courtship, we exchange non-verbal gestures of communication to become closer to each other. Important signals on the way to rapprochement include kisses and affection. Courtship consists of five phases: the attention phase, the closer phase of acquaintance, the phase of conversation, the phase of touch and the phase of making love. Touch is connected in the second two phases. Touch phase: First touch: most likely to happen by accident, than intentionally, affecting the neutral part of the body. The person to be touched either positively perceives the touch or rejects it. Hug: A standard way to convey to a person that you love him or need him. Intention to touch: a tactile code or non-verbal communication key is a hidden intention. Stretching his hand along the table to the stranger, a man expresses a willingness to touch. Kiss: is the fourth stage of courtship, touching the lips with someone or something to express love. The final stage, making love, involves simulating the somatosensory system during foreplay and is known as a protopathic touch. Any sense of fear or apprehension can be suppressed by other touches like kisses and a relaxing massage.
Touch Values
A touch study conducted by Jones and Yarbrough (1985) revealed 18 different meanings of touch, divided into 7 types: touch with positive effect (emotions), playful touch, controlled touch, ritual touch, hybrid touch (mixed type) and random touch.
Touching Positive Affect
Such touches entail positive emotions and usually occur between close people. They can be divided into support, gratitude , involvement, sex appeal , desire and affection. Support: refers to parenting, assures or inspires confidence in protection. Such touches usually happen in situations where a stressful person actually shows that he needs the support of another person. Gratitude : expresses appreciation for any person’s deed. Sexuality : expresses physical attraction or sexual interest. Attachment : expresses generalized positive concern through recognizing a person.
Playful Touch
Such touch makes communication easier. They send a dual message and a playful signal, both verbal and non-verbal, which helps perception of behavior not seriously. Such touches can be classified as pleasant and aggressive . Playful affection: facilitates communication. The severity of the positive message is reduced by the game signal. It can be mutual teasing. Game aggression: Just like playful attachment, such touch makes communication easier, however, the playful signal expresses aggression. Touch of this type is most likely non-reciprocal.
Controlled Touch
Such touches control the behavior, attitude or state of the recipient. The main characteristic of such touches is that almost all touches are initiated by a person who is trying to act. Such touches are divided into compliance , attracting attention and announcing a response. Compliance: controls the behavior of another person and often through attraction influences attitudes or feelings. Attraction of attention: controls the touch that the recipient perceptively directs to something. Announcement of the response: attracts attention and emphasizes the state of the initiator; implicitly requests an emotional response from a person.
Ritual Touch
Such touches usually consist of greeting and goodbye. They serve to come into contact with a person, or to stop contact. Greeting: part of the act of recognition of a person in an accidental / nonrandom meeting. Farewell: part of an act in which an accidental / nonrandom meeting ends.
Hybrid Touch
Such touches include two or more of the meanings described above. They can be classified into two groups: greeting / affection and farewell / affection. Greeting / affection: express the initiator's affection in an accidental / non-random meeting. Farewell / affection: express affection and are aimed at rapprochement.
Random Touch
Such touches are unintentional and make no sense. They consist mainly of light touches. A retail study conducted by Martin found that men and women who were accidentally touched by customers left the store earlier and rated brands more negatively. [eleven]
Notes
- ↑ Harlow, H. (1958) American Psychologist, 13, 673.
- ↑ Remland, M, Jones, T, & Brinkman, H 1995, 'Interpersonal Distance, Body Orientation, and Touch: Effects of Culture, Gender, and Age', Journal Of Social Psychology, 135, 3, pp. 281-297
- ↑ Heslin, R. (1974, May) Steps toward a taxomony of touching. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
- ↑ Walton, D. (1989), Are you communicating? You can't manage without it, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Publishing.
- ↑ Jones & Yarbrough (1985), A naturalistic study of the meanings of touch. Communication Monographs, 52., 19-56.
- ↑ Goffman, E. (1963). Behavior in public places, New York: Free Press.
- ↑ Whitcher, SJ, & Fisher, JD, (1979). Multidimensional reaction to therapeutic touch in a hospital setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 87-96.
- ↑ Morris, D. (1977), Manwatching: A field guide to human behavior. New York: Abrams.
- ↑ Patterson, ML (1988). Functions of nonverbal behavior in close relationships. In SW Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- ↑ McEwan, B., and Johnson, SL Relational Violence: The Darkest Side of Haptic Communication. The Nonverbal Communication Reader. Ed. LK Guerrero and ML Hall. 3rd ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland P, 2008.232-39.
- ↑ Martin, Brett AS (2012), "A Stranger's Touch: Effects of Accidental Interpersonal Touch on Consumer Evaluations and Shopping Time", Journal of Consumer Research, 39 (June), 174-184.