Touch may 'alleviate existential fears in people with low self-esteem'

New research has suggested that touch may help people with low self-esteem in confronting their own mortality.

Psychological scientist and lead researcher Sander Koole of VU University Amsterdam said that even fleeting and seemingly trivial instances of interpersonal touch may help people to deal more effectively with existential concern. This is important because we all have to deal with existential concerns and we all have times at which we struggle to find meaning in life.

The study's findings showed that people may still find existential security through interpersonal touch, even in the absence of symbolic meaning derived from religious beliefs or life values.

In a series of studies Koole and colleagues tested the hypothesis that people with low self-esteem deal with existential concerns by connecting with others.

In one study, an experimenter approached participants as they walked through a university campus. The experimenter handed the participants questionnaires to fill out; for some of the participants, she accompanied the questionnaire with a light, open-palmed touch on the participant's shoulder blade that lasted about 1 second.

Interestingly, participants with low self-esteem who received the brief touch reported less death anxiety on the questionnaire than those who had not been touched.

Touch also seemed to act as a buffer against social alienation when participants were reminded of their mortality: Participants with low self-esteem showed no decreased in social connectedness after being reminded of death, but only if they had received a light touch.

The research suggests that individuals with low self-esteem may desire, and even seek out, touch when they are confronted with their mortality.

"Our findings show that even touching an inanimate object- such as a teddy bear- can soothe existential fears. Interpersonal touch is such a powerful mechanism that even objects that simulate touch by another person may help to instill in people a sense of existential significance," Koole noted.

The study is published in journal Psychological Science.