Touch and Attachment, 2016

For this cross-sectional study, we recruited participants through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants had to be at least 21 years old and currently in a romantic relationship for at least six months. The sample comprises 1,604 participants (801 men; 798 women, three transgender persons and two who preferred not to identify). Participants were between 21 and 73 years old (M=35.4, SD=10.5). Most participants (74.9%) were married, engaged or cohabitating and identified as heterosexual (88.4%). Relationship length ranged between six months to 46 years (M=7.9 years, SD=8.2 years). Measures: This study includes a series of questionnaires (ECR assessing adult attachment; Affectionate touch behaviors, touch motives and the use of touch as emotion regulation in the couple; the Seven Touch Scales ; the Perceived Stress Scale, the PANAS, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scales, the Inclusion of Other in Self; the Perceived Relationships Quality Components; sexual satisfaction and Demographic Information). Moreover, it includes a series of open-ended questions about people's experience of affectionate touch with their partner. The protocol was approved by the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education REB (#33100)