ArticleScientific reports2017
The soothing function of touch: affective touch reduces feelings of social exclusion.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 185 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic narrative review of the form, process, and function of sensory hyposensitivity in depression.Translational psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Touch, communication and affect: a systematic review on the use of touch in healthcare professions.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Social pain: A systematic review on interventions.F1000Research · 2025Pooled it
- Creatively Adapting Touch-Based Practices to the Web Format During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of aquatic exercise on mood and anxiety symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Applications, indications, and effects of passive hydrotherapy WATSU (WaterShiatsu)-A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Self-Soothing Touch Reduces Momentary Stress, Fatigue, and Loneliness Comparable to Brief Meditation: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Trial
- Endocannabinoid contributions to the perception of socially relevant, affective touch in humans.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- Chronic pain patients low in social connectedness report higher pain and need deeper pressure for pain relief.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Long-term metabolic and cardiovascular health benefits from romantic partner touch in older adults.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Vicarious Touch: A Potential Substitute for Social Touch During Touch Deprivation.European journal of social psychology · 2026Article
- Touch Avoidance and Emotional Impact in Adults with Chronic Hand Eczema: A Nationwide Cohort Study.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2025Article
- The Next Frontier in Neuroprosthetics: Integration of Biomimetic Somatosensory Feedback.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Neural responses to social touch with different emotional valences: an fNIRS study.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Article
- Is cultural context the crucial touch? Neurophysiological and self-reported responses to affective touch in women in South Africa and the United Kingdom.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Article
- Can impersonal touch replace interpersonal touch? An investigation using the rubber hand illusion.PloS one · 2025Article
- Analysis of losses in physiotherapy students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a phenomenological approach.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- The meaning of touch: Relational and individual variables shape emotions and intentions associated with imagined social touch.European journal of social psychology · 2024Article
- Evolutionarily conserved neural responses to affective touch in monkeys transcend consciousness and change with age.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The mammalian need for social proximity, attachment and belonging may have an adaptive and evolutionary value in terms of survival and reproductive success. Consequently, ostracism may induce strong negative feelings of social exclusion. Recent studies suggest that slow, affective touch, which is mediated by a separate, specific C tactile neurophysiological system than faster, neutral touch, modulates the perception of physical pain. However, it remains unknown whether slow, affective touch, can also reduce feelings of social exclusion, a form of social pain. Here, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, namely the Cyberball task (N = 84), to examine whether the administration of slow, affective touch may reduce the negative feelings of ostracism induced by the social exclusion manipulations of the Cyberball task. As predicted, the provision of slow-affective, as compared to fast-neutral, touch led to a specific decrease in feelings of social exclusion, beyond general mood effects. These findings point to the soothing function of slow, affective touch, particularly in the context of social separation or rejection, and suggest a specific relation between affective touch and social bonding.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.