The relationship-dependent touching is appropriate to cover acquaintances, friends and family. The type of touch is all dependent on the social networks of the group. For instance, family members are allowed to touch any part of the body, acquaintances and relatives are only allowed to touch over the head and upper torso. As such, for the family the touch can be called lovey touch, which signifies the tight bond that is present among members of the family. The touch applying to friends can be called limited touch to mean that there are areas where the individual is not allowed to touch. For instance, a family member is not allowed to touch the private parts of another individual because this type of touch is only recommended for persons who are emotionally involved such as couples. Acquaintances, on the other hand, we shall refer to their touch as far-far touch to imply that they are just people we meet along the way and thus, are allowed to only touch over the head. Other body parts are restricted because they are passer-by. Such stringent measures have resulted in acquaintances, family, and friends understanding their limits with regard to touching. It is this that has enabled people respect for each other and thus, has made them have strong bonds because taboo zones are also included in the touching mentioned. For examples, genitals’ touching is considered a taboo for acquaintances and friends, but for family it is allowed. Furthermore, the buttocks area should not be touched by males in the family, acquaintances, and friends. It should be noted that there are touches that are more intimate than others like face touching is a more personal form of touch compared to a handshake, arm touches, or even arms around the waist or shoulder.
In relation to the relationship-dependent touching, the functions of touch are similar to those of the family where the positive-affect touch is recommended for family members. In this type of touch, the function of the touch is to support each other especially during hard or difficult moments. They are also a form of encouraging one another during difficult moments and when demise affects the family. The touch is also a form of appreciating each other and bears the mark of “inclusion” especially when it comes to working on a project (Haptics Touch PPT, p. 9). For acquaintances, ritualistic touches are best employed because it looks at “greetings and departure” (Haptics Touch PPT, p. 12), which is related to the relationship-dependent touch that elaborates clearly the marks where they can reach with regard to touch. Acquaintances can only touch over the head of an individual. Friends will consider control touches as it encompasses things such as compliance, announcing a response, and gaining attention (Haptics Touch PPT, p. 11). This is related to the relationship-dependent touch because they only touch the upper torso. These two types of touch are related because they have communicative functions with regard to emotional communication, bonding, attachment, compliance, intimacy, and liking among many others.
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Jones and Yarbrough’s types of touch include “positive-affect, task-related, and control touches” (Haptics Touch PPT, p. 7). Inclusion touches that is found under the positive-affect touches such as knees, legs or shoulders that are in contact or touch (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016). This type of touch elicits to convey tactile statement of togetherness in a group of people. “Sexual touch is also found in the positive-affect touches” (Haptics Touch PPT, p. 9) and involves the extension of caressing and holding of two people. Affectionate touch is the other type that covers a wide range of touches. Jones and Yarbrough continue to identify the different types of touches but make a distinction between the nonvulnerable and vulnerable body parts. In the United States, the nonvulnerable body parts include the elbows, upper-middle back area, arms, and hands while the vulnerable body parts are the remaining parts. It is from this that sexual touches use vulnerable body parts to convey their message of relationship and this signifies their level of intimacy. The prolonged touches are said to be the intimate kids of touches.
The task-related touch according to Jones and Yarbrough has little if any personal meaning that it is an instrumental type of touch. This is because it helps people to complete necessary tasks. For instance, when a doctor is examining a patient, an usher will be present at the entrance to guide people to their assigned seats (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016, p. 47). Other instances are when a teacher helps a student to hold a pen properly or even when a child is being helped by the care giver to sit on a high chair. Such forms of touch function as task related, but there are other touches that are not oriented to help people in accomplishing tasks. For instance, when a cashier returns change to the customer there is the hand-to-hand contact, which does not necessarily mean that a task is being accomplished.
The control touches, on the other hand, are intended to direct attitude, behavior, or feeling state of another individual. There are also other control touches that give focus to gaining compliance or persuading individuals. Instances when a boss touches the employees’ shoulder is a polite way of communicating that the job needs to be done promptly. In other scenes, this type of touch is trying to persuade the employee to work extra hard and finish the assignment. Other times control touches give focus to gaining other people’s attention while at the same time it may look at shifting their perceptual focus or even emphasizing a particular feeling. Control touch is fairly common among children (Burgoon, Guerrero & Floyd, 2016, p. 89).
Reference
Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal communication. New York, NY: Routledge. Haptics Touch PPT
