GENDER AND NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES TOWARD SAME-GENDER TOUCH

Women have been reported to be more positive about same-gender touch, but cross-cultural information about this touch is limited. Male and f emale students from Chile (n = 26), Spain (n = 61), Malaysia (n = 32), and the US (n = 77) completed a same-gender touch scale. As in past s tudies, US women had more positive scores than US men. Malaysians had more negative scores than the other three groups. Spanish and US stude nts had more positive scores than Chilean students. National differenc es in attitudes toward particular types of touch were also noted. The need for new methods for examining cross-cultural differences in touch was discussed.