Evaluation of Interpersonal Touch by the Sighted and the Blind

Summary Forty blind and 40 sighted adult females interacted in pair-groups while working on a verbal task for two periods, each lasting three minutes. During the second period the “toucher” member of the pair-group twice touched her partner (the “touchee”). Comparison between the first (non-touch) period and the second (touch) period showed that the blind Ss, evaluated their partner and the task more positively than the sighted Ss, that the toucher evaluated her partner and the task more positively than the touchee, that the toucher evaluated the task more positively than her partner, and that the touchee evaluated her partner more positively than the task.