Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world

Agnieszka Sorokowska; Marta Kowal; Supreet Saluja; Toivo Aavik; Charlotte Alm; Afifa Anjum; Kelly Asao; Carlota Batres; Aicha Bensafia; Boris Bizumic; Mahmoud Boussena; David M. Buss; Marina Butovskaya; Seda Can; Antonin Carrier; Hakan Cetinkaya; Daniel Conroy-Beam; Rosa María Cueto; Marcin Czub; Seda Dural; Agustín Espinosa; Carla Sofia Esteves; Tomasz Frackowiak; Jorge Contreras-Garduño; Farida Guemaz; Ivana Hromatko; Herak Iskra; Feng Jiang; Konstantinos Kafetsios; Tina Kavcic; Nicolas Kervyn; Nils C. Köbis; Aleksandra Kostić; András Láng; Torun Lindholm; Zoi Manesi; Norbert Meskó; Girishwar Misra; Conal Monaghan; Jean Carlos Natividade; George Nizharadze; Elisabeth Oberzaucher; Anna Oleszkiewicz; Ariela Francesca Pagani; Vilmante Pakalniskiene; Miriam Parise; Marija Pejičić; Annette Pisanski; Kasia Pisanski; Camelia Popa; Pavol Prokop; Ruta Sargautyte; Shivantika Sharad; Franco Simonetti; Piotr Sorokowski; Michal Mikolaj Stefanczyk; Anna Szagdaj; Meri Tadinac; Karina Ugalde González; Olga Uhryn; Christin-Melanie Vauclair; Gyesook Yoo; Maja Zupančič; Ilona Croy

doi:10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1

Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world

Agnieszka Sorokowska, Marta Kowal, Supreet Saluja, Toivo Aavik, Charlotte Alm, Afifa Anjum, Kelly Asao, Carlota Batres, Aicha Bensafia, Boris Bizumic, Mahmoud Boussena, David M. Buss, Marina Butovskaya, Seda Can, Antonin Carrier, Hakan Cetinkaya, Daniel Conroy-Beam, Rosa María Cueto, Marcin Czub, Seda DuralAgustín Espinosa, Carla Sofia Esteves, Tomasz Frackowiak, Jorge Contreras-Garduño, Farida Guemaz, Ivana Hromatko, Herak Iskra, Feng Jiang, Konstantinos Kafetsios, Tina Kavcic, Nicolas Kervyn, Nils C. Köbis, Aleksandra Kostić, András Láng, Torun Lindholm, Zoi Manesi, Norbert Meskó, Girishwar Misra, Conal Monaghan, Jean Carlos Natividade, George Nizharadze, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Anna Oleszkiewicz, Ariela Francesca Pagani, Vilmante Pakalniskiene, Miriam Parise, Marija Pejičić, Annette Pisanski, Kasia Pisanski, Camelia Popa, Pavol Prokop, Ruta Sargautyte, Shivantika Sharad, Franco Simonetti, Piotr Sorokowski, Michal Mikolaj Stefanczyk, Anna Szagdaj, Meri Tadinac, Karina Ugalde González, Olga Uhryn, Christin-Melanie Vauclair, Gyesook Yoo, Maja Zupančič, Ilona Croy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-13
Number of pages	13
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1
Publication status	Published - 2023

Keywords

Couple relationship
Cross-cultural study
Love
Touch

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10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1

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Sorokowska, A., Kowal, M., Saluja, S., Aavik, T., Alm, C., Anjum, A., Asao, K., Batres, C., Bensafia, A., Bizumic, B., Boussena, M., Buss, D. M., Butovskaya, M., Can, S., Carrier, A., Cetinkaya, H., Conroy-Beam, D., Cueto, R. M., Czub, M., ... Croy, I. (2023). Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world. Scientific Reports, 13, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1

@article{007467076edf452695f9bc555ea7bec3,

title = "Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world",

abstract = "Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.",

keywords = "Couple relationship, Cross-cultural study, Love, Touch, Couple relationship, Cross-cultural study, Love, Touch",

author = "Agnieszka Sorokowska and Marta Kowal and Supreet Saluja and Toivo Aavik and Charlotte Alm and Afifa Anjum and Kelly Asao and Carlota Batres and Aicha Bensafia and Boris Bizumic and Mahmoud Boussena and Buss, {David M.} and Marina Butovskaya and Seda Can and Antonin Carrier and Hakan Cetinkaya and Daniel Conroy-Beam and Cueto, {Rosa Mar{\'i}a} and Marcin Czub and Seda Dural and Agust{\'i}n Espinosa and Esteves, {Carla Sofia} and Tomasz Frackowiak and Jorge Contreras-Gardu{\~n}o and Farida Guemaz and Ivana Hromatko and Herak Iskra and Feng Jiang and Konstantinos Kafetsios and Tina Kavcic and Nicolas Kervyn and K{\"o}bis, {Nils C.} and Aleksandra Kosti{\'c} and Andr{\'a}s L{\'a}ng and Torun Lindholm and Zoi Manesi and Norbert Mesk{\'o} and Girishwar Misra and Conal Monaghan and Natividade, {Jean Carlos} and George Nizharadze and Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Anna Oleszkiewicz and Pagani, {Ariela Francesca} and Vilmante Pakalniskiene and Miriam Parise and Marija Peji{\v c}i{\'c} and Annette Pisanski and Kasia Pisanski and Camelia Popa and Pavol Prokop and Ruta Sargautyte and Shivantika Sharad and Franco Simonetti and Piotr Sorokowski and Stefanczyk, {Michal Mikolaj} and Anna Szagdaj and Meri Tadinac and Gonz{\'a}lez, {Karina Ugalde} and Olga Uhryn and Christin-Melanie Vauclair and Gyesook Yoo and Maja Zupan{\v c}i{\v c} and Ilona Croy",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1",

language = "English",

volume = "13",

pages = "1--13",

journal = "Scientific Reports",

issn = "2045-2322",

publisher = "London : Nature Publishing Group",

}

Sorokowska, A, Kowal, M, Saluja, S, Aavik, T, Alm, C, Anjum, A, Asao, K, Batres, C, Bensafia, A, Bizumic, B, Boussena, M, Buss, DM, Butovskaya, M, Can, S, Carrier, A, Cetinkaya, H, Conroy-Beam, D, Cueto, RM, Czub, M, Dural, S, Espinosa, A, Esteves, CS, Frackowiak, T, Contreras-Garduño, J, Guemaz, F, Hromatko, I, Iskra, H, Jiang, F, Kafetsios, K, Kavcic, T, Kervyn, N, Köbis, NC, Kostić, A, Láng, A, Lindholm, T, Manesi, Z, Meskó, N, Misra, G, Monaghan, C, Natividade, JC, Nizharadze, G, Oberzaucher, E, Oleszkiewicz, A, Pagani, AF, Pakalniskiene, V, Parise, M, Pejičić, M, Pisanski, A, Pisanski, K, Popa, C, Prokop, P, Sargautyte, R, Sharad, S, Simonetti, F, Sorokowski, P, Stefanczyk, MM, Szagdaj, A, Tadinac, M, González, KU, Uhryn, O, Vauclair, C-M, Yoo, G, Zupančič, M & Croy, I 2023, 'Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world', Scientific Reports, vol. 13, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1

TY - JOUR

T1 - Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world

AU - Sorokowska, Agnieszka

AU - Kowal, Marta

AU - Saluja, Supreet

AU - Aavik, Toivo

AU - Alm, Charlotte

AU - Anjum, Afifa

AU - Asao, Kelly

AU - Batres, Carlota

AU - Bensafia, Aicha

AU - Bizumic, Boris

AU - Boussena, Mahmoud

AU - Buss, David M.

AU - Butovskaya, Marina

AU - Can, Seda

AU - Carrier, Antonin

AU - Cetinkaya, Hakan

AU - Conroy-Beam, Daniel

AU - Cueto, Rosa María

AU - Czub, Marcin

AU - Dural, Seda

AU - Espinosa, Agustín

AU - Esteves, Carla Sofia

AU - Frackowiak, Tomasz

AU - Contreras-Garduño, Jorge

AU - Guemaz, Farida

AU - Hromatko, Ivana

AU - Iskra, Herak

AU - Jiang, Feng

AU - Kafetsios, Konstantinos

AU - Kavcic, Tina

AU - Kervyn, Nicolas

AU - Köbis, Nils C.

AU - Kostić, Aleksandra

AU - Láng, András

AU - Lindholm, Torun

AU - Manesi, Zoi

AU - Meskó, Norbert

AU - Misra, Girishwar

AU - Monaghan, Conal

AU - Natividade, Jean Carlos

AU - Nizharadze, George

AU - Oberzaucher, Elisabeth

AU - Oleszkiewicz, Anna

AU - Pagani, Ariela Francesca

AU - Pakalniskiene, Vilmante

AU - Parise, Miriam

AU - Pejičić, Marija

AU - Pisanski, Annette

AU - Pisanski, Kasia

AU - Popa, Camelia

AU - Prokop, Pavol

AU - Sargautyte, Ruta

AU - Sharad, Shivantika

AU - Simonetti, Franco

AU - Sorokowski, Piotr

AU - Stefanczyk, Michal Mikolaj

AU - Szagdaj, Anna

AU - Tadinac, Meri

AU - González, Karina Ugalde

AU - Uhryn, Olga

AU - Vauclair, Christin-Melanie

AU - Yoo, Gyesook

AU - Zupančič, Maja

AU - Croy, Ilona

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.

AB - Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.

KW - Couple relationship

KW - Cross-cultural study

KW - Love

KW - Touch

KW - Couple relationship

KW - Cross-cultural study

KW - Love

KW - Touch

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/270781

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1

DO - 10.1038/s41598-023-31502-1

M3 - Article

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 13

SP - 1

EP - 13

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

ER -

Love and affectionate touch toward romantic partners all over the world

Abstract

Keywords

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