Do people like being touched on the shoulder more than the arm?
Researchers from Oxford University may be able to answer that question accurately, thanks to a survey on physical contact, which is said to be the largest study of its kind ever.
"The researchers polled of over 1300 men and women in five different countries (Britain, Finland, France, Italy and Russia) about where they felt comfortable being touched by partners, friends of the same and opposite sex, family members and strangers," Time said. "Their responses were distilled into a map that shows which areas are (literally) up for grabs and which are off limits."
The red zones in the map indicated the parts that one is uncomfortable being touched by various people. The darker the hue, the higher the touch taboo.
"Overall, men were more uncomfortable than women at being touched by friends," The Independent observed. "Women were generally found to be happy with both male and female friends touching most parts of their body, while men were far more uncomfortable with similar-style physical interaction."
Naturally, those with a higher emotional connection to the one being touched are more likely to be allowed to come in contact with more parts of the body.
"The greater the pleasure caused by touching a specific area of the body, the more selectively we allow others to touch it," Aalto University researcher Julia Suvilehto noted.
Further, the study found that "when it came to touching, nominal relationships (like whether someone was a blood relative) mattered more than the frequency with which people encountered one another," Time said.
As such, a good friend whom one has not seen in months is likely to be allowed to touch certain zones that remain off-limits to acquaintances that one encounters daily.
It is worth noting that the survey was done online. Participants were made to paint the areas of their body they're comfortable being touched by various people in their social circle.
"Because it was an online survey, the researchers write that their sample included an oversampling of young, well-educated women," Tech Insider noted. "The findings might also be limited to Western cultures."
"People in Japan, for example, where bowing is the accepted form of greeting, might not be as comfortable with touching hands," the site added.
As such, the body map is not representative of the global population. However, it can be used as "an average guide to help demonstrate how to approach strangers," Mirror said.
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