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The Soothing Function of Touch: Affective Touch Reduces Feelings of Social Exclusion

Von Mohr Ballina, M; Kirsch, LK; Fotopoulou, AF; (2017) The Soothing Function of Touch: Affective Touch Reduces Feelings of Social Exclusion. Scientific Reports (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

The mammalian need for social proximity, attachment and belonging may have an adaptive and evolutionary value in terms of survival and reproductive success. Consequently, ostracism may induce strong negative feelings of social exclusion. Recent studies suggest that slow affective touch, which is mediated by a separate, specific C tactile neurophysiological system than faster, neutral touch, modulates the perception of physical pain. However, it remains unknown whether slow, affective touch, can also reduce feelings of social exclusion, a form of social pain. Here, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, namely the Cyberball task (N = 84), to examine whether the administration of slow, affective touch may reduce the negative feelings of ostracism induced by the social exclusion manipulations of the Cyberball task. As predicted, the provision of slow-affective, as compared to fast-neutral, touch led to a specific decrease in feelings of social exclusion, beyond general mood effects. These findings point to the soothing function of slow, affective touch, particularly in the context of social separation or rejection, and suggest a specific relation between affective touch and social bonding.

Type: Article
Title: The Soothing Function of Touch: Affective Touch Reduces Feelings of Social Exclusion
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: **MAR 2018** Saved AAM to S: drive, article in press, applied 6 months default embargo on AAM, improved meta data, need updates when published, made live (NV 22/09/2017).
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1574563
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