Throughout the life span, individuals engage in affectionate touch with close others. Touch
receipt promotes well-being in infancy, but the impacts of touch in adult close relationships …

Though rarely included in studies of parent–infant interactions, affectionate touch plays a
unique and vital role in infant development. Previous studies in human and rodent models …

Affectionate touch is crucial for well-being. However, attachment avoidance is associated
with negative attitudes toward touch. We tested two preregistered hypotheses about how …

Social touch is increasingly utilized in a variety of psychological interventions, ranging from
parent-child interventions to psychotherapeutic treatments. Less attention has been paid …

Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically
tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account for …

Close physical contact is a defining feature of intimate relationships across the lifespan and
occurs in nearly all kinds of close relationships. However, there are important individual …

Interpersonal touch seems to promote physical health through its effects on stress-sensitive
parameters. However, less is known about the psychological effects of touch. The present …

Highlights•Social, affective regulation, including through touch, is multidimensional.•Social
touch appears to have three interrelated functions in affective regulation.•Social touch …

Surprisingly little scientific research has been conducted on the topic of interpersonal touch
over the years, despite the importance of touch in our everyday social interactions from birth …

This review briefly summarizes recent empirical research on touch. The research includes
the role of touch in early development, touch deprivation, touch aversion, emotions that can …