An experiment to test an encounter group assumption that touching increases interpersonal attraction was conducted. Twenty-one college women were randomly assigned to a touch or no-touch condition. In the touch condition the subject was paired with an experimental accomplice who joined her in three bogus ESP experiments, the last of which involved mutual touching for 11o seconds. The no-touch condition was identical, save touching. Subjects then evaluated the experimental accomplice on four dimensions. A comparison of total evaluation scores verified the hypothesis: subjects who touched the accomplice perceived her as a more attractive person than those who did not touch her.
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