Date of Award

1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Psychology

Committee Director

Valerian J. Derlega

Committee Member

Barbara A. Winstead

Committee Member

Brenda S. Nichols

Committee Member

Frederick G. Freeman

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.P65C63

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how males and females react to touch. It was hypothesized that females who were touched, compared to females who were not touched, would report higher levels of perceived social support, increases in positive affect, decreases in negative affect and higher evaluations of the confederate that touched them. In contrast, it was hypothesized that males who were touched, compared to males who were not touched, would report less perceived social support, decreases in positive affect, increases in negative affect and lower evaluations of the confederate. Eighty subjects, 40 male and 40 female, participated in this study. Each subject participated in a structured interview. During this interview, a female confederate touched the subject on the arm at predetermined intervals. Measures of current affective states were taken before and after the interview. Measures of perceived social support and ratings of the confederate were taken after the interview. The results of this study did not support the hypotheses. However, some unexpected findings did occur. A significant Touch main effect for the Social Provision Scale was found.

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DOI

10.25777/q232-n253

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