Abstract
AbstractThe present study examines how supportive touch impacts evaluations of
esteem support content containing high emotion-focused (HEF) or high problem-focused
(HPF) messages during observed esteem support interactions. A 2 (verbal content;
i.e., HEF or HPF) by 2 (nonverbal content; i.e., presence or absence of supportive
tactile communication) experiment was conducted to test for main and interactional
effects. Results revealed that HEF conditions were perceived to be more effective by
observers at enhancing the recipient’s state self-esteem, state self-efficacy, and
alleviating distress compared to HPF conditions. The supportive tactile
communication conditions were perceived as better at enhancing state self-esteem and
alleviating distress compared to the no supportive tactile communication conditions
by observers. However, these main effects were qualified by significant two-way
interactions between message content and nonverbal behavior on ratings of state
self-esteem and distress alleviation, such that the addition of supportive tactile
communication enhanced the effectiveness of HPF message content but not HEF
content.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC