Touch Conveys Emotions

This is an important article documenting the ability of simple touch to communicate emotion non-verbally.  It has major implications for how we relate to others and how care givers (nurses, aides, physicians) can initiate the healing process.

Hertenstein MJ, Holmes R, McCullough M, Keltner D.  The communication of emotion via touch.   Emotion. 2009 Aug;9(4):566-73.

Abstract

The study of emotional communication has focused predominantly on the facial and
vocal channels but has ignored the tactile channel. Participants in the current
study were allowed to touch an unacquainted partner on the whole body to
communicate distinct emotions. Of interest was how accurately the person being
touched decoded the intended emotions without seeing the tactile stimulation. The
data indicated that anger, fear, disgust, love, gratitude, and sympathy were
decoded at greater than chance levels, as well as happiness and sadness, 2
emotions that have not been shown to be communicated by touch to date. Moreover,
fine-grained coding documented specific touch behaviors associated with different
emotions. The findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to the study
of emotion-related communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all
rights reserved).