The DOI matches its Crossref record; 87 of the 87 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Affectionate Touch to Promote Relational, Psychological, and Physical Well-Being in Adulthood: A Theoretical Model and Review of the Research
Abstract
Throughout the life span, individuals engage in affectionate touch with close others. Touch receipt promotes well-being in infancy, but the impacts of touch in adult close relationships have been largely unexplored. In this article, we propose that affectionate touch receipt promotes relational, psychological, and physical well-being in adulthood, and we present a theoretical mechanistic model to explain why affectionate touch may promote these outcomes. The model includes pathways through which touch could affect well-being by reducing stress and by promoting well-being independent of stress. Specifically, two immediate outcomes of affectionate touch receipt—relational-cognitive changes and neurobiological changes—are described as important mechanisms underlying the effects of affectionate touch on well-being. We also review and evaluate the existing research linking affectionate touch to well-being in adulthood and propose an agenda to advance research in this area. This theoretical perspective provides a foundation for future work on touch in adult close relationships.
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Cites
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A Global Measure of Perceived Stress
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“Securely attached individuals may interpret affectionate touch as indicating love and care most strongly because they view themselves as worthy of love and affection and trust that their partners care for them (Cassidy & Shaver, 2008; Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007a).”
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Cited by
Eckstein, M., Mamaev, I., Ditzen, B., & Sailer, U. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555058 · Cited by 121
Debrot, A., Stellar, J. E., MacDonald, G., Keltner, D., & Impett, E. A. (2021) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167220977709 · Cited by 53
Touch matters: COVID-19, physical examination, and 21st century general practice
de Zulueta, P. (2020) · British Journal of General Practice · doi:10.3399/bjgp20x713705 · Cited by 22
Orlando, E. M., & Chin, B. N. (2025) · Human-Animal Interactions · doi:10.1079/hai.2025.0005 · Cited by 12
Metadata
- Authors
- Jakubiak, B. K., & Feeney, B. C.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-05-24
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 228-252
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2395542849
- Cited by
- 295
- References
- 87
- FWCI
- 9.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Jakubiak, B. K., & Feeney, B. C. (2017). Affectionate Touch to Promote Relational, Psychological, and Physical Well-Being in Adulthood: A Theoretical Model and Review of the Research. Personality and Social Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868316650307
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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
