Touchy Situations

Touching Can Be Powerful

Many studies have been conducted to establish different patterns and their meanings when it comes to touching.

Touching is highly powerful to human beings. Touch can express different emotions such as comfort, courtship, anger or can be used to establish personal rapport.

In fact, it is through touching that we first communicate with the world. Before we are even born, we can hear the heartbeat of our mother pounding agains us rhythmicly.

Touching Helps Us Develop Emotionally and Mentally

It is believed that our first tactile experiences are important in helping our mental and emotional developing. Children that have received less afection through touching have taken longer to learn to talk and walk.

Self-touching, on the other hand is often seen in anxious or tense settings. It may be a way of self conoslation by means of self-stimulation.

It is common to see an anxious kid sucking his thumb or playing with his hair. As adults, we learn to refreain ourseleves from openly touching us but still do it unconsciously in situations where we find ourselves tense or restless. We may also play with our hair or pretend we are rearraging our clothes. We may even be caressing a part of our body such as arms, legs or tammy. Instead of a caress, we may disguise it as “scratching”.

Reference: Mark L. Knapp, Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction.