TOUCH ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS, RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY-CHILDHOOD TOUCH, AND SOCIAL SELF-CONFIDENCE

Subjects filled out three touch attitude scales, a measure of recollec tions of early childhood touch, and a social competence inventory, and then proceeded to record their touches in a log for one week. The tou ch questionnaires, although correlated with one another, did not predi ct day-to-day touching as recorded in logs. However, the results also suggest that questionnaire responses (for the one recall measure and t wo attitude scales) and log records are each independently predictive of social self-confidence. These findings are interpreted to mean that both positive attitudes/remembrances about touch and active engagemen t in touch behavior are important elements in social competence. Impli cations for future research are discussed, including the suggestion th at the possible effects of skills training in touch on tactile attitud es, touch communication practices, and social self-esteem should be in vestigated.