The Experience of Interpersonal Touch During a Personal Growth Program: A Factor Analytic Approach

Abstract

Twenty male and 16 female psychology students who participated in a personal growth program in which structures involving interpersonal touch were used filled out a questionnaire evaluating their experience of touching and being touched. Factor analysis yielded five factors. The first, taking up 50% of the variance was labeled “openness to exploration of self-expression and intimacy through touch” and measured the extent to which participants experienced touch as nurturant, celebratory, ludic, and cathartic. The second factor was “perception of touch as threatening” and was independent of the first. Factor 3 was a sexual arousal factor, Factor 4 measured a “serious, caring stance,” and Factor 5 measured perceptionn of oneself as threatening when touching.” Males had higher scores on Factor 3 and females on Factor 1. Correlations between the touch factors and the scales of the Personal Orientation Inventory and the Howarth Personality Questionnaire were also computed and the significant correlations are presented and discussed. The touch factors are discussed in relation to the experience of being touched both in the group setting and in everyday life.