Social thermogulation and beyond: Skin-warming and touch in service of social (emotion) regulation

Prof. Hans Ijzerman (Tilburg University)

29 octobre 2013, 16h, Uni-Mail M5193

This talk will consist of two parts. First, I'd like to think that I am on more solid ground and provide data about the role of touch in emotion sharing. The literature to date suggests that the verbal sharing of negative emotions does not lead to positive outcomes. However, it may be the case that important individual difference variables have been overlooked. In four MTurk studies, we find that the quality of close touch and the quality of the relationship matter in whether verbal sharing of sadness is successful or not: People who are comfortable with close touch and who are in good relationships are less stressed, have better health, ruminate less, and reflect more when they share their sad feelings (as compared to not sharing), whereas this difference is absent for those who score low on both variables. The second half of the talk will be more speculative, and I will suggest that it is not just touch that socially regulates emotions, but that people are able to respond to partners’ close stress by the warming of the skin. I will summarize converging literatures and early empirical support for the idea of social thermoregulation.