I Wanna Hold Your Hand: Handholding is Subjectively Preferred to Stroking in Acute Emotion Regulation

Social touch is an important form of interpersonal emotion regulation. Existing models illustrate that both the toucher and the person being touched should sense each other to provide mutual feedback. We tested the importance of this mutuality using two well-studied types of touch: handholding and stroking (specifically of skin with C-tactile afferents, i.e. C-touch). We hypothesized that to regulate acute emotions, participants would prefer handholding, which allows for better two-way tactile communication than stroking. In four pre-registered studies (total N=287), participants rated handholding and stroking as emotion regulation methods. We examined touch preference in hypothetical emotional and physical situations (Studies 1-2), in hypothetical injection situations using participants with blood/injection phobia (Study 3), and during recalled childbirth situations (Study 4). In all studies, participants preferred handholding over stroking. This was especially evident in Studies 1-3 in emotionally intense situations. These results demonstrate the importance of two-way sensory communication for consoling touch.