A Slim Majority: The Influence of Sex Ratio on Women's Body Dissatisfaction and Weight Loss Motivations

Women Who Experience More Affectionate Touch Report Better Body Satisfaction and Relationship Outcomes

Affectionate touch (e.g. hugging, handholding) is an essential component of many intimate relationships and is a primary contributor to overall relationship satisfaction as well as sexual satisfaction. Affectionate touch is understood to be a form of non-verbal communication in which the giver is expressing positive feelings toward the receiver. Here, we propose that affectionate touch also positively impacts receivers' body satisfaction, because affectionate touch is a positive message communicated toward the receiver's body. In a cross-sectional sample of romantically partnered women (N = 1,156), we assessed the association between affectionate touch frequency and body satisfaction. We also investigated whether affectionate touch is associated with relationship/sexual satisfaction in part because touch helps to improve women's evaluations of their own bodies. Our results showed that body satisfaction was a significant, partial mediator and a valid path through which affectionate touch shapes relationship quality. Receiving affectionate touch could bolster relationship satisfaction and self-perceptions among women. Given the prevalence of body dissatisfaction amongst women, these results suggest that the underexplored associations between affectionate touch and body satisfaction may have significant impacts on a wide array of future empirical and applied research trajectories.