The Dark Side of Interpersonal Touch: Physical Contact Leads to More Non-compliance With Preventive Measures to COVID-19.
Psychol Rep
; : 332941211051985, 2021 Dec 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2232433
ABSTRACT
Following preventive measures is crucial for slowing the rate of COVID-19 spread. To date, most research has focused on the role of individual differences and personality in compliance with preventive measures to COVID-19. Building on findings that interpersonal touch instills a feeling of security, we propose that interpersonal touching behavior, an underexplored factor tied to social interaction, leads to more breaches of coronavirus restrictions by inducing security feelings. In a lab experiment (Experiment 1) and a field study (Experiment 2), we demonstrated that a female experimenter's fleeting and comforting pat on the shoulder made people less willing to abide by preventive measures in their self-report and actual behavior. Further, we excluded a potential alternative explanation that touch intervention by the experimenter presents the defiance of COVID-19 rules because the effect cannot be observed when the touch consists of a handshake rather than a comforting pat on the shoulder (Experiment 3). Finally, consistent with our theoretical perspective, the results revealed that sense of security mediated the effect of interpersonal touch on violation of instructions to follow coronavirus precautions. Taken together, interpersonal touch not only enhances trust and security, but also can push people away from health guidelines.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
English
Journal:
Psychol Rep
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
00332941211051985
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