TY - JOUR
T1 - Too close for comfort? Adult attachment and cuddling in romantic and parent-child relationships
AU - Chopik, William J.
AU - Edelstein, Robin S.
AU - van Anders, Sari M.
AU - Wardecker, Britney M.
AU - Shipman, Emily L.
AU - Samples-Steele, Chelsea R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The first author was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. We thank Katy Goldey and members of the Personality, Relationships, and Hormones Lab for their comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.
PY - 2014/10
Y1 - 2014/10
N2 - Close physical contact is a defining feature of intimate relationships across the lifespan and occurs in nearly all kinds of close relationships. However, there are important individual differences in the extent to which people feel comfortable engaging in intimate interactions. In two samples, attachment avoidance was associated with less positive feelings toward cuddling in adult romantic relationships (Sample 1) and parent-child relationships (Sample 2); attachment anxiety was largely unrelated to feelings about cuddling across relationships. Moreover, the magnitude of the associations between attachment avoidance and feelings about cuddling was similar across relationship types. The current study highlights the similarities in people's use of intimate touch across relationships, namely to communicate affection, trust, and responsiveness to their loved ones. Yet we also identified important attachment-related differences in feelings about intimate touch. The current findings suggest several new directions for future research on the benefits of interpersonal touch.
AB - Close physical contact is a defining feature of intimate relationships across the lifespan and occurs in nearly all kinds of close relationships. However, there are important individual differences in the extent to which people feel comfortable engaging in intimate interactions. In two samples, attachment avoidance was associated with less positive feelings toward cuddling in adult romantic relationships (Sample 1) and parent-child relationships (Sample 2); attachment anxiety was largely unrelated to feelings about cuddling across relationships. Moreover, the magnitude of the associations between attachment avoidance and feelings about cuddling was similar across relationship types. The current study highlights the similarities in people's use of intimate touch across relationships, namely to communicate affection, trust, and responsiveness to their loved ones. Yet we also identified important attachment-related differences in feelings about intimate touch. The current findings suggest several new directions for future research on the benefits of interpersonal touch.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2014.05.035
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2014.05.035
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84903490152
SN - 0191-8869
VL - 69
SP - 212
EP - 216
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
ER -