Haptic communication is a branch of nonverbal communication that refers to the ways in which people and animals communicate and interact via the sense of touch. Touch or haptics, from the ancient Greek word haptikos is extremely important for communication; it is vital for survival (Tiffany, 2017). The sense of touch allows one to experience different sensations such as: pleasure, pain, heat, or cold. One of the most significant aspects of touch is the ability to convey and enhance physical intimacy. The sense of touch is the fundamental component of haptic communication for interpersonal relationships. According to the editor of Pediatrix Medical Group, touch is the earliest sense to develop in the fetus. Many other researches have been carried out on this particular area. Human babies have been observed to have enormous difficulty surviving if they do not possess a sense of touch, even if they retain sight and hearing (Tiffany et al., 1987). Crystal (2017) adds that infants who can perceive through touch, even without sight and hearing, tend to fare much better.
Haptic communication is used in a number of contexts and also has dangers for the unwary as touching for example where another person can, in particular circumstances, be interpreted as assault. Touch is often intimate and can be used as an act of domination or friendship, depending on the context and who is touching who, how and when. Young children and old people use more touching than people in the middle years. In as much as touch provides a direct contact with the other interlocutor, it varies greatly with the setting and purpose (Changing Minds, 2018).
Touch can be used for professional functions. Some jobs require that the other person is touched in some way, very typically by people in the medical profession or other caring jobs. Managers should know the importance of using touch while communicating to subordinates, but need to be cautious and understand how touch can be misunderstood. A hand on the shoulder for one person may mean a supportive gesture, while it could mean a sexual advance to another person. Working with others and using touch to communicate, a manager needs to be aware of each person’s touch tolerance. Henley’s (1977) research found that a person in power is more likely to touch a subordinate, but the subordinate is not free to touch in kind. Touch is a powerful nonverbal communication tool and this different standard between a superior and subordinate can lead to confusion whether the touch is motivated by dominance or intimacy according to Borisoff and Victor (1989). In his book, Walton (1989) postulates that touching is the ultimate expression of closeness or confidence between two people, but not seen often in business or formal relationships. Touching stresses how special the message is that is being sent by the initiator. “If a word of praise is accompanied by a touch on the shoulder, that’s the gold star on the ribbon,” wrote Walton.
The amount of touching that occurs within a culture is largely based on the relative high context or low context of the culture. In a high contact culture, many things are not verbally stated but are express through physical touch. For instance, Cheek kissing is very common method of greeting in the Latin Americas, but among European individuals it is an uncommon form of greeting. Different cultures have different display rules, the degree with which emotions are expressed. Cultural display rules also affect the degree to which individuals share their personal space, gaze and physical contact during interactions. In a High contact culture, such as South America, Latin America, Southern Europe, Africa, Russia, Middle East and others, people tend to share more physical contact. High contact cultures communicate through long gazes, long hugs, and share a decrease in proxemics (Steven, 2017).
Low contact cultures such as: The United States, Canada, Northern Europe, Australia & New Zealand and Asia prefers infrequent touching, larger physical distance, indirect body orientations (during interaction) along with little share gazes (Steven, 2017). In the Thai culture, kissing a friend on the cheek is less common than in the Latin Americas. Remland and Jones (1995) studied groups of people communicating and found that in England (8%), France (5%) and the Netherlands (4%), touching was rare compared to the Italian (14%) and Greek (12.5%) sample (Brinkman et al., 1995).
Touching in intimate relationships may also be violent at times. McEwan and Johnson categorize violent touch in relationships into two categories: intimate terrorism and common couple violence (McEwan & Johnson, 2008). Intimate terrorism is characterized by a need to control or dominate a relationship, escalation over time, high frequency and severity. Common couple violence, on the other hand, is often a result of minor conflict. Common couple violence is less frequent and severe, and does not escalate over time. There are two major differences between intimate terrorism and common couple violence. Common couple violence comes in episodes rather than escalating over time. One study in 1999 by Geiser gave further evidence to this notion and reported that in fact males are significantly more likely to engage in nonverbal aggression and violence.
It is more acceptable for women to touch than men in social or friendship settings, possibly because of the inherent dominance of the person touching over the person being touched. Whitcher and Fisher conducted a study to see whether therapeutic touch to reduce anxiety differed between the sexes (Whitcher & Fisher, 1979). A nurse was told to touch patients for one minute while the patients looked at a pamphlet during a routine preoperative procedure. Females reacted positively to the touch, whereas males did not. It was surmised that males equated the touch to being treated as inferior or dependent.
Moving from one haptic category to another can become blurred by culture. There are many areas in the United States where a touch on the forearm is accepted as socially correct and polite. However, in the Midwest, this is not always an acceptable behavior. Any form of touch is greatly resisted in Japanese culture. The initial connection to another person in a professional setting usually starts off with a touch, specifically a handshake. A person’s handshake can speak volumes about them and their personality. Chiarella (2006) wrote an article for Esquire magazine explaining to the predominantly male readership how handshakes differ from person to person and how they send nonverbal messages. He mentioned that holding the grip longer than two seconds will result in a stop in the verbal conversation, thus the nonverbal will override the verbal communication.
References
Changing Minds (2018).Haptic Communication. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/body_language/haptic_touch.htm
Crystal, L (2017). “The Sense of Touch and How It Affects Development.”The Sense of Touch and How It Affects Development, 14 May 2009, serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/crystal-leonard/sense-touch-and-how-it-affects-development
Tiffany, F (2017). “The Importance of Touch.”Karger Gazette, misc.karger.com/gazette/67/Field/art_4.htm
Tiffany M. et al (1987). “Sensory deprivation stress and supplemental stimulation in the rat pup and preterm human neonate”.Child Development.58 (6): 1431–47. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1987.tb03856.x. JSTOR 1130683.PMID 3691193.
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