Haptics

1. Haptics Touch is the most intimate form of communication

2. keeping in touch. • not being in touch with reality. • a touching gesture. • using the “soft touch” on someone Metaphors associated with touch

3. brush • caress • clinch • cuddle • embrace • grope • handshake • high five • hit • hold • hug • feel • fondle • kiss • knuckle bump • nibble • pat • pinch • poke • prod • push • reach around • rub • scratch • shove • slap • spank • squeeze • stroke • tickle “Touch has the power to repel, disgust, insult, threaten, console, reassure, love, and arouse” (Andersen, 2008) the importance of touch

4. Greeting rituals • Comfort, reassurance • Positive or negative affect • Communicating status, power • Conveying the level of intimacy functions of touch

5. Functional • Professional • Social/Polite • Friendship/Warmth • Love/Intimacy • Sexual Arousal Types of touch

6. Touch is the first sense humans develop. • Touch is essential for proper emotional and psychological development. • Monkeys raised in isolation from their mothers were maladjusted (Harlow, 1958) • Preemies who are touched grow faster. • In orphanages, untouched children die of merasmus (wasting away) (Montagu, 1978) • Tactile stimulation in the first years of live is necessary for brain development (Gerhart, 2004; Perry, 2002) touch in infancy

7. The context determines the meaning of touch. • pat on the back • reassuring or condescending? • punch in the arm • Playful or aggressive? • slap on the butt in sports • Okay on the field, not okay in the locker room. • Culture shapes the meaning assigned to touch • two males holding hands • shaking hands with the left hand • a male shaking a woman’s hand context is key

8. In public places, males initiate more touch than females (Hertenstein, Verkemp, et al., 2006) • In private settings, women initiate touch more often (Major et al., 1990) • Women use more non-hand touches than men (body and leg touches). • Men are more likely to initiate touch early in a relationship • Women are more likely to initiate touch in marriages Who touches whom?

9. Overweight people • receive fewer touches (Holmes, 2005) • People with disabilities • Touching a person’s wheelchair or other assistive device is inappropriate. • Touch avoiders • Some people are apprehensive about touching and being touched • Touch illiterates • Some people lack awareness of social norms governing touch More about who touches whom

10. Male Touchers • male friend • boss • father • teacher • uncle • Female Touchers • female friend • boss • mother • teacher • aunt • Female Touchees • arm • shoulder • forearm • knee • face • Male Touchees • arm • shoulder • forearm • knee • face Appropriate or inappropriate?

11. beyond the handshake there are only 4 where skin-to-skin contact is acceptable among co-workers: • upper arm • forearm • top of wrist Workplace touch

12. Mila Kunis grabbed Justin Timberlake’s “package” during the MTV awards in 2011. • He returned the favor by grabbing her boobs. Sascha Baron Cohen, dressed as an angel, “fell” into Eminem during Appropriate given the context?

13. When President Bush started to give German Chancellor Angela Merkel a shoulder rub at the Group of 8 summit meeting in 2006, she recoiled • In a moment reminiscent of a scene in the Godfather, John McCain hugged George W. Bush. Putin kissed a 5 yr. old on the belly, explaining it as a spontaneous gesture of affection appropriate political touch?

14. The handshakeshake it, don’t break it

15. the dead fish • the bone crusher • lady fingers • the swoop in • the stiff arm • the two-hander • the pump handle • the saw • Alternatives • high five • knuckle bump • double-handed • cheek kiss types of handshakes

16. Remember the person’s name • Avoid sweaty palms (handkerchief) • Stand up, walk around objects • Look at the person, not at the hand • Make eye contact, smile • Don’t shake with your left hand • Offer a firm shake, not overpowering • Make full palm-to-palm contact Avoid vice grips Save the double-hander for the U.N. Are you rescuing a princess or shaking hands? The “correct” Western handshake No thumb-wrestling, please

17. People with higher status tend to touch more than those with low status (Henley, 1973) • 88% of handshakes, in one study, were initiated by managers • In organizational settings, superiors touch subordinates more than subordinates touch superiors (Remland, 1981). • Higher status persons have more touch privilege than low status persons (Andersen, 2008) Status, power and touch

18. An airline passenger claims the armrest by bumping another passenger’s arm off. • A standing manager places both hands on a seated employee’s shoulders while saying, “You’re going to have that report for me by the end of the day, right?” • A boyfriend puts his arm around his girlfriend and pulls her in closer to him to signal possessiveness. • Touching people’s possessions—grabbing their cell phone or iPod exerting dominance, control

19. “Phone booth” study. A confederate intentionally left a coin in a phone booth for another person to find. • No touch condition: When the person found the coin, the confederate approached him/her and said “Did you happen to seem my coin in that phone booth? I need it to make another call?” • 23% compliance • Touch condition: the confederate touched the person lightly on the elbow for 1-3 seconds and asked if they found the coin. • 68% compliance • Cultural differences in replicating the phone booth study: Touch was most effective in low-touch cultures: • 22% compliance for Italians • 50% compliance for French • 72% compliance for Australians • 70% compliance for English • 85% compliance for Germans Touch and compliance gaining

20. Food servers and compliance gaining • Retail sales • Bystanders and helping behavior • Incidental touch in a library • Touch and requests for donations • Guidelines • make the touch light and brief • A count of “one Mississippi.” • look for signs of discomfort • moving farther away, crossing arms, buttoning coat • limit contact to the shoulder, forearm, elbow, or back. • Don’t touch bare shoulders or backs Touch and compliance gaining