Tactile Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions

Cambridge, Mass. June 24, 2010 - Psychologists report this week in the journal Science that interpersonal interactions can be shaped, profoundly yet unconsciously, by the physical attributes of incidental objects: Resumes reviewed on a heavy clipboard are judged to be more substantive, while a negotiator seated in a soft chair is less likely to drive a hard bargain. The research was conducted by psychologists at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University. The authors say the work suggests physical touch-the first of our senses to develop-may continue throughout life as a scaffold upon which we build our social judgments and decisions. "Touch remains perhaps the most underappreciated sense in behavioral research," says co-author Christopher C. Nocera, a graduate student in Harvard's Department of Psychology. "Our work suggests that greetings involving touch, such as handshakes and cheek kisses, may in fact have critical influences on our social interactions, in an unconscious fashion." Nocera conducted the research with Joshua M. Ackerman, assistant professor of marketing at MIT's Sloan School of Management, and John A. Bargh, professor of psychology at Yale. "First impressions are liable to be influenced by the tactile environment, and control over this environment may be especially important for negotiators, pollsters, job seekers, and others interested in interpersonal communication," the authors write in Science.