Our entire body is covered with skin, a sensitive sensory organ which continuously sends loads of information to our brain about ourselves, other people and the environment around us when we are touching or being touched.
This may come as a surprise to many, but the skin has actually been performing this task since we were still in our mother's womb.
Touch is of such great importance and necessity to our health and happiness whereby premature babies will eventually fall ill, and may even die from the lack of it.
This is also a very good explanation to why people always respond in a self-hugging position by wrapping their arms around their shoulders or torso when they are feeling insecure and vulnerable.
It is sort of like a way to comfort and reassure themselves of the current situation.
This type of self-touching gestures are also needed to assert and maintain our reality, our solidity and our boundaries in our daily lives.
And a recent research has also found that tactile people are proven to be more attractive and interesting compared to the non-touchers.
1 The Working Professional Touch This is the kind of touch we receive from our doctors, dentists, fitness instructors, and also beauty therapists of every kind.
Getting touched by these people can be considered as a relaxing experience in the case of a body massage, or just distressful in the event of medical and dental examinations.
2 The Gregarious Social Touch The courteous and courtly handshake is already known as a very common form of practice by most cultures around the world when greeting one another.
There are also many other forms of greetings and farewells that involves this element of touch.
3 The Amicable Friendly Touch Here is a touch that indicates enthusiasm, encouragement, warmth, sympathy, compassion and sometimes also authority or superiority on the person who is the toucher.
This gesture ranges from a simple pat on the forearm when stressing a point to the more enthusiastic embraces of sport individuals when celebrating their wins in competitions.
4 The Loving Family Touch Unlike people who only knows each other casually, touches exchanged between lovers, siblings, very close friends, parents and their children will display a more affectionate intimacy, and thus revealing a higher level of trust that developed and exist in the relationship.
5 The Sensual Sexual Touch The is the touch which provides a sensual pleasure feeling that leads the individuals involved feeling sexually aroused and eventually reaching the stage of sexual intercourse.
When Do We Touch The Most? During many occasions and certain situations, people are more likely to touch others and be touched by them.
Few of the most apparent and noticeable circumstances will be when people are interacting, greeting hello or goodbye, and during sexual intercourse.
There are also many other incidence of touching between people being increased because of specific impulsions, intentions and emotions such as: * Events happening in personal and social life rather than working life.
* When feeling relieved, happy and excited about something that has just happened or about to happen.
* When giving advise or encouraging someone.
* When convincing, urging or persuading someone.
* When expressing empathy or sympathizing with someone.
* When asking for a favor or help.
* When teaching or telling someone to do something.
If you are brought up in a family who enjoys touching and being touched, you are most likely to share a similar behavior pattern.
On the contrary, people who grow up in a non-tactile and touch-avoidant family will tend to be very cautious about touch in their daily life as they will experience nervousness and awkwardness when encountering these situations.
Their behaviors is very much characterized by social withdrawal, shyness, distrust, and emotional distance.
And others will need to reach a certain level of closeness in the relationship before they are even allowed the most minimal physical contact.