Author:
Sorokowska Agnieszka,Kowal Marta,Saluja Supreet,Aavik Toivo,Alm Charlotte,Anjum Afifa,Asao Kelly,Batres Carlota,Bensafia Aicha,Bizumic Boris,Boussena Mahmoud,Buss David M.,Butovskaya Marina,Can Seda,Carrier Antonin,Cetinkaya Hakan,Conroy-Beam Daniel,Cueto Rosa María,Czub Marcin,Dural Seda,Espinosa Agustín,Esteves Carla Sofia,Frackowiak Tomasz,Contreras-Garduño Jorge,Guemaz Farida,Hromatko Ivana,Iskra Herak,Jiang Feng,Kafetsios Konstantinos,Kavcic Tina,Kervyn Nicolas,Köbis Nils C.,Kostić Aleksandra,Láng András,Lindholm Torun,Manesi Zoi,Meskó Norbert,Misra Girishwar,Monaghan Conal,Natividade Jean Carlos,Nizharadze George,Oberzaucher Elisabeth,Oleszkiewicz Anna,Pagani Ariela Francesca,Pakalniskiene Vilmante,Parise Miriam,Pejičić Marija,Pisanski Annette,Pisanski Kasia,Popa Camelia,Prokop Pavol,Sargautyte Ruta,Sharad Shivantika,Simonetti Franco,Sorokowski Piotr,Stefanczyk Michal Mikolaj,Szagdaj Anna,Tadinac Meri,González Karina Ugalde,Uhryn Olga,Vauclair Christin-Melanie,Yoo Gyesook,Zupančič Maja,Croy Ilona
Abstract
AbstractTouch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC