After compiling the results in a ‘body map index’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in America (PNAS) published it on Monday. It was found that men feel more comfortable to be in physical touch than women with an exception of touch of male friends.
However, women revealed that they are comfortable with the male strangers’ touch at hands only. Comparatively, men are found to be comfortable to be in physical contact with any part of the body by women stranger that even includes their genitals, than a relative.
Scientists in Britain and Finland conducted the survey between the people from Britain, Finland, France, Italy and Russia. They asked the participants to color in the outlines of body parts where they are comfortable and not comfortable to be touched.
The survey said that the men are not that much comfortable as women being touched by friends. Females are often found comfortable and happy being touched by their male and female friends at any part of their body. On the other hand, male feel uncomfortable when touched by similar physical interaction.
Julia Suvilehto, a researcher at Aalto University said that this survey, which is one of the kinds of largest, ever done, showed that touch is ‘an important means of maintaining relationships. The greater the pleasure caused by touching a specific area of the body, the more selectively we allow others to touch it.’
Robin Dunbar, the Researcher at Oxford said- ‘We interpret touch depending on the context of the relationship’.
‘We may perceive a touch in a particular place from a relative or friend as a comforting gesture, while the same touch from a partner might be more pleasurable, and from a stranger it would be entirely unwelcome’.
