The Relationship between Interpersonal Touch and Attachment Organization

• Main Author: Ekeberg, Dennis
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Stockholms universitet, Psykologiska institutionen 2016
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-130838

The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between interpersonal touch, attitudes towards touch, and attachment organization. using a sample of Amazon Mechanical Turk workers (N = 420) and a battery of tests including a short form of the Experience in Close Relationships (ECR-S), Touch Avoidance Questionnaire (TAQ), and the newly developed Interpersonal Touch Scale (IPTS). In line with previous research, the results revealed that attachment avoidance have significant limiting impacts on type specific touch behaviors. Mediation of touch avoidance could fully account for the relationship between attachment avoidance and several type specific touch behaviors, but not for hitting behavior (which also was correlated with attachment anxiety). No significant target specific relationships were observed except for a moderate correlation between attachment avoidance and lower frequency of partner touch, partly mediated by touch avoidance.